"Autobiographies of great nations are written in three manuscripts – a book of deeds, a book of words, and a book of art. Of the three, I would choose the latter as truest testimony." - Sir Kenneth Smith, Great Civilisations

"I must write each day without fail, not so much for the success of the work, as in order not to get out of my routine." - Leo Tolstoy

I have never believed that one should wait until one is inspired because I think the pleasures of not writing are so great that if you ever start indulging them you will never write again. - John Updike

"The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another; and his humblest hour is when he compares the volume as it is with what he vowed to make it." - J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

Poetry is the shadow cast by our streetlight imaginations." - Lawrence Ferlinghetti


[Note - If any article requires updating or correction please notate this in the comment section. Thank you. - res]


Saturday, April 16, 2022

“Cavalleria Rusticana” by Pietro Mascagni





il Signore è risorto 4/4
by Soprano Nicoletta Ceruti
June 19, 2010

Pietro mascagni -Inneggiamo il Signore è risorto - da " Cavalleria Rusticana " (mancante di parte orchestrale finale)

17° Concerto d'Autunno eseguito il giorno 18 ottobre 2008 presso la Chiesa parrocchiale di Gessate -

Direttore : M° Pierangelo Pelucchi
Soprano : Nicoletta Ceruti
Organista : Emilio Brambilla
Organo : Balbiani - Vegezzi - Bossi (se non ricordo male 32 composizioni sonore) anno costruzione : circa 1968
Corale S.s.Pietro & Paolo www.coralegessate.org
Orchestra sinfonica Gaetano Donizetti di Gessate




Mascagni- Cavalleria Rusticana, Zurich Opera, 2009
Apr 9, 2022

Tristan MA
Cavalleria Rusticana- Easter Disaster

Music: Pietro Mascagni
Libretto: Giovanni Targioni-Tozetti, Guido Menasci

Jose Cura- Turiddu
Paoletta Marrocu- Santuzza
Liliana Nikiteanu- Lola
Cheyne Davidson- Alfio
Irene Friedli- Lucia

Orchester des Opernhaus Zürich
Chor des Opernhaus Zürich
Conductor: : Stefano Renzani

Music in this video

Song - Cavalleria rusticana: Intermezzo sinfonico (Live)
Artist - Grazer Philharmoniker, Oksana Lyniv
Album - Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana - Leoncavallo: Pagliacci (Live)
Licensed to YouTube by - Naxos Digital Services US, Inc (on behalf of Oehms Classics)

* * * * * * * *




OTHER RECITATIONS



A belated tribute for Il Supremo's 101st birthday
(Franco Corelli was born April 8, 1921), and an early Easter treat. 
With English subtitles and the original Italian text on screen


Mar 13, 2022, publ by Simon KawasakiComposed before March 1890. Turiddu: Placido Domingo Santuzza: Agnes Baltsa Alfio: Juan Pons Mamma Lucia: Vera Baniewicz Lola: Susanne Mentzer Giuseppe Sinopoli, Philharmonia Orchestra, Chorus of the Royal Opera House, 1990. I do not own this recording.
It was nearly impossible to find another opera quite like Cavalleria Rusticana before it was written. The work is passionate, so sublimely passionate, and Mascagni knows exactly how to describe this soulful passion. Well, let’s get the huge factor out of the way: the opera is PERFECTLY scored. It represents the complete change of Italian operatic orchestration from the “big, accompanying guitar” of Bellini and early Verdi to an orchestra with more character, with subtle timbres and beautiful, moving treatment. This is a signature of (pre) verismo opera, with Boito, late Verdi, and Catalani. Strings are constantly doubling each other in a very Tchaikovskian fashion, and the wind writing is sublime.
Back to my original point: the composer who can remotely be called a predecessor to Mascagni would be Bizet. Even in Les Pecheurs de Perles, one hears instances of that orchestral richness that can be found in this opera, but the influence clearly displays itself in the libretto, with a love for the earthly, the common man. No longer are we listening to Verdi’s dukes, kings, or any other form of gentry; we are hearing a passionate love story from the villagers of Sicily. Every melody is supremely crafted, stirring your soul in every single sense.
I particularly love the chorus after the intermezzo, “A casa, amici.” The listener is never, ever bored by what they hear. The length is apropos for the easily bored beginner opera listener, making this opera perhaps the most accessible opera ever written. In short, my friends, Mascagni was a composer with love in his mind and in his heart, and he expressed this love with delicacy and deepest emotion here in this opera. The music is SO passionate that the listener can almost see the teardrops stained on Mascagni’s manuscript.
Music in this video:
Song - Preludio
Artist - Philharmonia Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli
Album - Preludio
Licensed to YouTube by - UMG (on behalf of Deutsche Grammophon (DG)); Public Domain Compositions, and 4 Music Rights Societies

Song - "O lola ch'ai di latti la cammisa" (Siciliana)
Artist - Plácido Domingo, Philharmonia Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli
Album - "O lola ch'ai di latti la cammisa" (Siciliana)
Licensed to YouTube by - UMG (on behalf of Deutsche Grammophon (DG)); Sony Music Publishing, and 4 Music Rights Societies

Song - Siciliana (Inst.) - Tempo I
Artist - Philharmonia Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli
Album - Siciliana (Inst.) - Tempo I
Licensed to YouTube by - UMG (on behalf of Deutsche Grammophon (DG)); Public Domain Compositions, LatinAutor, and 3 Music Rights Societies

Song - Introduzione - Coro d'introduzione - Allegro giocoso
Artist - Philharmonia Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli
Album - Introduzione - Coro d'introduzione - Allegro giocoso
Licensed to YouTube by - UMG (on behalf of Deutsche Grammophon (DG)); Public Domain Compositions, Kobalt Music Publishing, and 3 Music Rights Societies

Song - Gli aranci olezzano sui verdi margini
Artist - Philharmonia Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Robin Stapleton
Album - Gli aranci olezzano sui verdi margini
Licensed to YouTube by - UMG (on behalf of Deutsche Grammophon (DG)); Public Domain Compositions, and 5 Music Rights Societies

Song - Scena - Largo
Artist - Philharmonia Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli
Album - Scena - Largo
Licensed to YouTube by - UMG (on behalf of Deutsche Grammophon (DG)); Public Domain Compositions, and 2 Music Rights Societies

Song - "Dite, mamma Lucia"
Artist - Agnes Baltsa, Vera Baniewicz, Philharmonia Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli
Album - "Dite, mamma Lucia"
Licensed to YouTube by - UMG (on behalf of Deutsche Grammophon (DG)); Public Domain Compositions, and 2 Music Rights Societies

Song - Il cavallo scalpita
Artist - Juan Pons, Philharmonia Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Robin Stapleton
Album - Il cavallo scalpita
Licensed to YouTube by - UMG (on behalf of Deutsche Grammophon (DG)), and 2 Music Rights Societies

Song - "Beato voi, compar Alfio"
Artist - Vera Baniewicz, Agnes Baltsa, Juan Pons, Philharmonia Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli
Album - "Beato voi, compar Alfio"
Licensed to YouTube by - UMG (on behalf of Deutsche Grammophon (DG)), and 2 Music Rights Societies

Song - Regina coeli laetare
Artist - Philharmonia Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Robin Stapleton
Album - Regina coeli laetare
Licensed to YouTube by - UMG (on behalf of Deutsche Grammophon (DG)); Public Domain Compositions, and 2 Music Rights Societies



THE METROPOLITAN OPERA

COMPOSER - Pietro Mascagni Ruggero/Leoncavallo
LIBRETTIST - Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti, Guido Menasci, Ruggero Leoncavallo

SUNG IN
Italian

MET TITLES IN
  • English
  • German
  • Spanish
  • Italian
CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA

A village in Sicily, circa 1900. At dawn on Easter Sunday, Turiddu sings in the distance of his love for Lola, wife of the carter Alfio. She and Turiddu had been a couple before he joined the army. When he returned and found her married to Alfio, he seduced Santuzza but now has abandoned her and rekindled his relationship with Lola. Later in the morning, a distraught Santuzza approaches the tavern of Mamma Lucia, Turiddu’s mother, who tells her that her son is away buying wine. But Santuzza knows that Turiddu has been seen during the night in the village. Alfio arrives with a group of men, boasting of his horses—and of Lola. He asks Mamma Lucia if she has any more of her good wine. When she says that Turiddu has gone to get more, Alfio replies that he saw him near his house that same morning. Lucia is surprised, but Santuzza tells her to keep quiet. As the villagers follow the procession to church, Santuzza stays behind and pours out her grief about Turiddu to Mamma Lucia. The old woman expresses her pity, then also leaves for Mass. Turiddu arrives in the piazza. When Santuzza confronts him about his affair with Lola, he denies her accusations. Just then Lola passes by on her way to church. She mocks Santuzza, and Turiddu turns to follow her. Santuzza begs him to stay and implores him not to abandon her. Refusing to listen, Turiddu leaves, and Santuzza curses him. Alfio appears, late for Mass. Santuzza tells him that Lola went to church with Turiddu and reveals that she has been cheating on him. In a rage, Alfio swears to get even and rushes off, leaving behind the now conscience-stricken Santuzza.

Returning from the church the villagers gather at Mamma Lucia’s tavern. Turiddu leads them in a drinking song, but the atmosphere becomes tense when Alfio appears. He refuses Turiddu’s offer of wine and instead challenges him to a knife fight. Turiddu admits his guilt but is determined to go through with the fight, for Santuzza’s sake as well as for his honor. The two men agree to meet outside the village. Alone with his mother, Turiddu begs her to take care of Santuzza if he doesn’t come back, then runs off to the fight. As Mamma Lucia waits anxiously, shouts are heard in the distance. A woman runs in screaming that Turiddu has been killed.

PAGLIACCI




PROLOGUE

Tonio the clown announces that what the audience is about to see is a true story and that actors have the same joys and sorrows as other people.

ACT I

The same Sicilian village, 1949. A small theatrical company has just arrived and Canio, the head of the troupe, advertises the night’s performance to the gathered crowd. One of the villagers suggests that Tonio is secretly courting Canio’s young wife, Nedda. Canio warns them all that he will not tolerate any flirting offstage—life and theater are not the same. As the crowd disperses, Nedda is left alone, disturbed by her husband’s jealousy. She looks up to the sky, envying the birds their freedom. Tonio appears and tries to force himself on Nedda, but she beats him back, and he retreats, swearing revenge. In fact, Nedda does have a lover—Silvio, a young peasant, who suddenly appears. The two reaffirm their love, and Silvio persuades Nedda to run away with him that night. Tonio, who has returned and overheard the end of their conversation, alerts Canio, but Silvio manages to slip away unrecognized. Canio violently threatens Nedda, but she refuses to reveal her lover’s name. Beppe, another member of the troupe, restrains Canio, and Tonio advises him to wait until the evening’s performance to catch the culprit. Alone, Canio gives in to his despair—he must play the clown even though his heart is breaking.

ACT II

That evening, the villagers assemble to watch the performance, Silvio among them. Beppe plays Harlequin, who serenades Columbine, played by Nedda. He dismisses her buffoonish servant Taddeo, played by Tonio, and over dinner the two sweethearts plot to poison Columbine’s husband Pagliaccio, played by Canio. When Pagliaccio unexpectedly appears, Harlequin slips away. Taddeo maliciously assures Pagliaccio of his wife’s innocence, which ignites Canio’s jealousy. Forgetting his role and the play, he demands that Nedda tell him the name of her lover. She tries to continue with the performance, the audience enthralled by its realism, until Canio snaps. In a fit of rage he stabs Nedda and then Silvio, who rushes to her aid. Turning to the horrified crowd, Tonio announces that the comedy is over.


* * * * * * * *





DM's OPERA SITE

Cavalleria rusticana” by Pietro Mascagni libretto (English Swap Italian)


Roles

Santuzza, a peasant girl - soprano
Turiddu, a young villager recently returned from the army - tenor
Lucia, his mother - contralto
Alfio, the village teamster - baritone
Lola, his wife - mezzo-soprano


The scene represents a square in a village in Sicily. At the back, on the right, a church with a moveable door. On the left, an inn and the house of Mother Lucia. It is Easter.
The curtain is down.

TURIDDU
O Lola! like the snow, pure in thy whiteness!
Redder than cherries glow thy lips in brightness!
Happy the lover brave, when by thy kisses
Thou shalt his soul enslave in fondest blisses!
Though at thy door dark blood be warningly lying,
Ne'er shall it hinder me, when to thee flying.
Death straight to heaven in its arms may enfold me;
Ne'er shall I enter there happy, till I behold thee!

Personaggi

Santuzza, giovane contadina (soprano)
Turiddu, giovane contadino (tenore)
Lucia, sua madre (contralto)
Alfio, carrettiere (baritono)
Lola, sua moglie (mezzosoprano)


La scena rappresenta una piazza in un paese della Sicilia.—Nel fondo, a destra, Chiesa con porta praticabile. — A sinistra l'osteria e la casa di Mamma Lucia. — È il giorno di Pasqua.
(A sipario calato.)

TURIDDU
O Lola c'hai di latti la cammisa
si bianca e russa comu la cirasa,
quannu t'affacci fai la vucca a risa,
biatu pì lu primu cu ti vasa!
Ntra la puorta tua lu sangu è spasu,
ma nun me mpuorta si ce muoru accisu ...
e si ce muoru e vaju 'n paradisu
si nun ce truovo a ttia, mancu ce trasu

SCENE FIRST
Chorus

WOMEN (within)
Oranges blossoming, myrtle and jessamine
Mingle their fragrance with incense of flowers.
Morning now murmuring, hearts that were slumbering
Wake with the dawning with songs, as do ours

MEN (within)
To the harvest field, 'mid ears bright and golden,
The quick-flying spindles send out their humming;
We weary, while from our labors are holden,
To Thee, Light of Heaven, are humbly coming!
O glorious Son of Salvation, heaven adorning!
As the eagles home flying, hail we this morning!
(The chorus comes on the stage)

WOMEN
Vain are all earthly employments!
To heaven and its enjoyments!
The Virgin and our dear Lord!

SCENA PRIMA
Coro

DONNE (di dentro)
Gli aranci olezzano sui verdi margini,
cantan le allodole tra i mirti in fior;
tempo è si mormori da ognuno il tenero
canto che i palpiti raddoppia al cor

UOMINI (di dentro)
In mezzo al campo tra le spiche d'oro
giunge il rumore delle vostre spole;
noi stanchi riposando dal lavoro
a voi pensiamo, o belle occhi-di-sole.
O belle occhi-di-sole, a voi corriamo,
come vola l'augello al suo richiamo
(Il coro entra in iscena)

DONNE
Cessin le rustiche opre:
la Virgine serena
allietasi del Salvator!
(Il coro traversa la scena ed esce)

SCENE SECOND
Santuzza and Lucia

SANTUZZA (entering)
Tell me, mother Lucia—

LUCIA (surprised)
Is it you? What would you?

SANTUZZA
Turiddu is here?

LUCIA
And why do you come here
To seek my son?

SANTUZZA
Only that I may ask you—
Humbly I beg your pardon—where I may find him

LUCIA
I know not, I know not; bring me no trouble

SANTUZZA
Mother Lucia! I supplicate you, weeping;
Kindly, as the Saviour to a Magdalen,
Tell me, for mercy's sake, where is Turiddu?

LUCIA
He is gone for the wine to Francofonte

SANTUZZA
No! He was seen last night in the village

LUCIA
What say you! Is he then again at home?
(Going toward the door of her house)
Enter!

SANTUZZA
Into your house I cannot enter!
I am condemned!

LUCIA
And what of him
Have you now to tell me?

SANTUZZA
Alas! this thorn in my bosom!

SCENA II
Santuzza e Lucia

SANTUZZA (entrando.)
Dite, mamma Lucia...

LUCIA (sorpresa.)
Sei tu?... che vuoi?

SANTUZZA
Turiddu ov'è?

LUCIA
Fin qui vieni a cercare
il figlio mio?

SANTUZZA
Voglio saper soltanto,
perdonatemi voi, dove trovarlo

LUCIA
Non lo so, non lo so, non voglio brighe!

SANTUZZA
Mamma Lucia, vi supplico piangendo,
fate come il Signore a Maddelena,
ditemi per pietà, dov'è Turiddu...

LUCIA
È andato per il vino a Francofonte

SANTUZZA
No!... l'han visto in paese ad alta notte...

LUCIA
Che dici?... se non è tornato a casa!
(avviandosi all'uscio di casa)
Entra...

SANTUZZA (disperata.)
Non posso entrare in casa vostra....
Sono scomunicata!

LUCIA
E che ne sai
del mio figliuolo?

SANTUZZA
Quale spina ho in core!

SCENE THIRD
Alfio, Lucia, Santuzza and Chorus

ALFIO
With my horses bounding,
Wagon wheels resounding.
Cracking my whiplash—Ehi la!
Cold winds blowing steadily,
Rain and snow falling readily!
I care for nothing! Ehi la!

CHORUS
Happy is his calling,
Richest treasures hauling,
As he goes here and there

ALFIO
Me, Lola is awaiting,
All other lovers hating,
To her I am most dear!
Let the wind blow fearfully,
Lola watches tearfully,
'Tis Easter, and I'm here!

CHORUS
Happy is his calling,
Richest treasures hauling,
As he goes here and there

LUCIA
You are blest, Master Alfio,
That you are always so full of joy

ALFIO
Mother Lucia,
Have you not more of that lovely old wine?

LUCIA
Perhaps; Turiddu has gone away to buy some

ALFIO
He's always here! I saw him but this morning;
And very near my dwelling!

LUCIA (surprised)
What!

SANTUZZA (quickly)
Be silent!
(Those in the church are heard singing Alleluia)

SCENA III
Alfio, Coro e DETTE

ALFIO
Il cavallo scalpita,
i sonagli squillano,
schiocca la frusta.—Ehi là!—
Soffii il vento gelido,
cada l'acqua e nevichi,
a me che cosa fa?

CORO
O che bel mestiere
fare il carrettiere
andar di qua e di là!

ALFIO
M'aspetta a casa Lola
che m'ama e mi consola,
ch'è tutta fedeltà.
Il cavallo scalpiti,
i sonagli squillino,
è Pasqua, ed io son qua!

CORO
O che bel mestiere
fare il carrettiere
andar di qua e di là!

LUCIA
Beato voi, compar Alfio, che siete
sempre allegro così!

ALFIO.
Mamma Lucia,
n'avete ancora di quel vecchio vino?

LUCIA
Non so; Turiddu è andato a provvederne

ALFIO
Se è sempre qui!—L'ho visto stamattina
vicino a casa mia

LUCIA (sorpresa)
Come?

SANTUZZA (rapidamente)
Tacete
(dalla Chiesa odesi intonare l'alleluja)

ALFIO
I will not enter. Go ye both into church
(He goes out)

CHORUS (within the church)
Regina coeli, laetare—Alleluia!
Quia, quem meruisti portare—Alleluia!
Resurrexit sicut dixit—Alleluia!

CHORUS (in the square)
We rejoice that our Saviour is living!
He all-glorious arose from the dead;
Joys of heaven the Lord to us giving,
All the sorrows of darkness are fled!
(The chorus goes out slowly)

ALFIO
Io me ne vado, ite voi altri in chiesa.
(esce)

CORO INTERNO (dalla Chiesa.)
Regina coeli, laetare—Alleluja!
Quia, quem meruisti portare—Alleluja!
Resurrexit sicut dixit—Alleluja!

CORO ESTERNO (sulla piazza.)
Inneggiamo, il Signor non è morto.
Ei fulgente ha dischiuso l'avel,
inneggiamo al Signore risorto
oggi asceso alla gloria del Ciel!
(il Coro esce lentamente)

SCENE FOURTH
Lucia and Santuzza

LUCIA
And why did you thus make the sign of silence?

SANTUZZA
You well know, dearest mother, when he went as a soldier,
Turiddu had sworn to Lola eternal faith and love.
Returned, he found her married; and with new affection
Would he put out the fire burning still in his bosom.
I love him, he loves me. That evil one, for all my rightful pleasure,
Of her own husband forgetful, burns now with jealousy.
Me she has outraged! Despoiled of my honor I live on—
Lola and Turiddu loving!—and I weeping!

LUCIA
Wretched am I that such things should be told me
On this most holy morning

SANTUZZA
I am condemned!
Go you, O mother, and implore our dear Saviour;
And to him pray for me. Here, to Turiddu
Will I again make humble supplication

LUCIA (going toward the church)
And be thou our helper! Holy Maria!
(She goes out)

SCENA IV
Lucia e Santuzza

LUCIA
Perchè m'hai fatto segno di tacere?

SANTUZZA
Voi lo sapete, o mamma, prima d'andar soldato
Turiddu aveva a Lola eterna fè giurato.
Tornò, la seppe sposa; e con un nuovo amore
volle spegner la fiamma che gli bruciava il core:
m'amò, l'amai. Quell'invida d'ogni delizia mia,
del suo sposo dimentica, arse di gelosia....
Me l'ha rapito. Priva dell'onor mio rimango:
Lola e Turiddu s'amano, io piango, io piango, io piango!

LUCIA
Miseri noi, che cosa vieni a dirmi
in questo santo giorno?

SANTUZZA
Io son dannata....
Andate, o mamma, ad implorare Iddio,
e pregate per me.—Verrà Turiddu,
vo' supplicarlo un'altra volta ancora!

LUCIA (avviandosi alla chiesa.)
Ajutatela voi, Santa Maria!
(esce)

SCENE FIFTH
Santuzza and Turiddu

TURIDDU
You here, Santuzza?

SANTUZZA
You I was awaiting

TURIDDU
And Easter and church you are neglecting?

SANTUZZA
I can not go.
I must speak with you!

TURIDDU
I seek my mother

SANTUZZA
I must speak with you!

TURIDDU
Not here! not here!

SANTUZZA
Where have you been?

TURIDDU
Why do you ask me?
At Francofonte

SANTUZZA
No! 'Tis not true!

TURIDDU
Santuzza, trust in me!

SANTUZZA
No! You are lying;
I saw you turning here into this street.
And this morning at dawn they discovered you
Coming from Lola

TURIDDU
Ah! you were spying!

SANTUZZA
No! I swear to you. To us it has been told
By Master Alfio

SCENA V
Santuzza e Turiddu

TURIDDU
Tu qui, Santuzza?

SANTUZZA
Qui t'aspettavo

TURIDDU
È Pasqua, in chiesa non vai?

SANTUZZA
Non vo.
Debbo parlarti...

TURIDDU
Mamma cercavo

SANTUZZA
Debbo parlarti...

TURIDDU
Qui no! Qui no!

SANTUZZA
Dove sei stato?

TURIDDU
Che vuoi tu dire?...
A Francofonte!

SANTUZZA
No, non è ver!

TURIDDU
Santuzza, credimi...

SANTUZZA
No, non mentire;
ti vidi volgere giù dal sentier.
E stamattina, all'alba, t'hanno scôrto
presso l'uscio di Lola

TURIDDU
Ah! m'hai spiato!

SANTUZZA
No, te lo giuro. A noi l'ha raccontato
Compar Alfio, il marito, poco fa

TURIDDU
Thus you return the love I gave you?
You wish him to kill me?

SANTUZZA
Ah! such a fate do not mention

TURIDDU
Then you must leave me! In vain do you endeavor
My righteous anger thus to subdue!

SANTUZZA
Ah, yes! you love her!

TURIDDU
No!

SANTUZZA
And beautiful
Is Lola

TURIDDU
Silence! I love her not

SANTUZZA
You love her!
Oh! curses on her!

TURIDDU
Santuzza!

SANTUZZA
That most
Vile and wretched woman has torn thee from me!

TURIDDU
Beware, Santuzza! I am no slave
to thy vain jealousy!

SANTUZZA
Beat me! insult me! I love and pardon;
But all too heavy is my deep anguish!

TURIDDU
Così ricambi l'amor che ti porto?
Vuoi che m'uccida?

SANTUZZA
Oh! questo non lo dire...

TURIDDU
Lasciami dunque, invan tenti sopire
il giusto sdegno colla tua pietà

SANTUZZA
Tu l'ami dunque?

TURIDDU
No...

SANTUZZA
Assai più bella
è Lola

TURIDDU
Taci, non l'amo

SANTUZZA
L'ami....
Oh! maledetta!

TURIDDU
Santuzza!

SANTUZZA
Quella
cattiva femmina ti tolse a me!

TURIDDU
Bada, Santuzza, schiavo non sono
di questa vana tua gelosia!

SANTUZZA
Battimi, insultami, t'amo e perdono,
ma è troppo forte l'angoscia mia

SCENE SIXTH
Lola and THE OTHERS

LOLA (behind the scene)
Dearest yellow flower!
Thousands may grow
In heaven's lovely bower;
But, one like mine to show,
It has no power. (entering)
Oh! Turiddu! Have you seen Alfio? (sarcastically)

TURIDDU
I came
But this moment. I have not. (embarrassed)

LOLA
He is delayed,
No doubt, at the blacksmith's; but I must not tarry.
And you, I see, in the street do your praying! (ironically)

TURIDDU
Santuzza was just saying—

SANTUZZA (sadly)
I was saying
That 'tis Easter, and the Saviour to-day sees all things!

LOLA (sarcastically)
Go you not to the altar?

SANTUZZA (sadly)
I? No! I dare not go.
Who knows not that I am a sinner!

LOLA
I may thank my dear Saviour, I am His handmaid

SANTUZZA (ironically)
Indeed!—well done!—my Lola!

TURIDDU (to Lola)
We'll leave her.
Here is no place for us

LOLA (ironically)
Oh! you may stay here!

SANTUZZA
Yes, stay here!
Stay here! I have something to tell you!

SCENA VI
Lola e DETTI

LOLA (dentro alla scena.)
Fior di giaggiolo,
gli angeli belli stanno
a mille in cielo,
ma bello come lui
ce n'è uno solo. (entrando)
Oh! Turiddu.... È passato Alfio? (sarcastica)

TURIDDU
Son giunto
ora in piazza. Non so.... (impacciato)

LOLA
Forse è rimasto
del maniscalco, ma non può tardare. (ironica)
E ... voi ... sentite le funzioni in piazza...

TURIDDU
Santuzza mi narrava...

SANTUZZA (tetra.)
Gli dicevo
che oggi è Pasqua e il Signor vede ogni cosa!

LOLA (c.s.)
Non venite alla messa?

SANTUZZA (tetra.)
Io no, ci deve
andar chi sa di non aver peccato

LOLA
Io ringrazio il Signore e bacio in terra!

SANTUZZA (ironica.)
Oh! fate bene, Lola!

TURIDDU
Andiamo! andiamo!
Qui non abbiam che fare

LOLA (ironica.)
Oh! rimanete!

SANTUZZA (a Turiddu.)
Si, resta,
resta, ho da parlarti ancora!

LOLA (still ironically)
And with help of the Saviour, I will now go in
(She goes into church)

LOLA
E v'assista il Signore; io me ne vado
(entra in chiesa)

SCENE SEVENTH
Santuzza and Turiddu

TURIDDU (irate)
Ah! you see now, what you have spoken!

SANTUZZA
What you wished, and it was well!

TURIDDU (advancing)
By heaven!

SANTUZZA
Stab in my bosom!

TURIDDU (drawing back)
No!

SANTUZZA (beseechingly)
Turiddu! O hear me!

TURIDDU
Go!

SANTUZZA
No, no, Turiddu! Come, love me once more!
Do not abandon me! Ah! do not fly!

TURIDDU
Why do you follow me? Why to the door
E'en of the church you are seeking to spy?

SANTUZZA
I, thy Santuzza, weeping, implore
Take my poor heart to thine own once more

TURIDDU
Vain is your weeping; in vain you repent
After your outrage; ne'er will I relent

SANTUZZA (threatening)
Beware!

TURIDDU (with force)
Your anger will not bring me!
(He throws her on the ground and rushes into the church)

SANTUZZA (in greatest fury)
On thee come Evil Easter, thou false swearer!
SCENA VII
Santuzza e Turiddu

TURIDDU (irato.)
Ah! lo vedi, chè hai tu detto...?

SANTUZZA
L'hai voluto, e ben ti sta

TURIDDU (le s'avventa.)
Ah! perdio!

SANTUZZA
Squarciami il petto...

TURIDDU (s'avvia.)
No!

SANTUZZA (trattenendolo.)
Turiddu, ascolta!

TURIDDU
Va!

SANTUZZA
No, no, Turiddu—rimani ancora,
abbandonarmi—dunque tu vuoi?

TURIDDU
Perchè seguirmi—perchè spiarmi,
sul limitare—fin della chiesa?

SANTUZZA
La tua Santuzza—piange e t'implora;
come cacciarla—così tu puoi?

TURIDDU
Va, ti ripeto—va non tediarmi,
pentirsi è vano—dopo l'offesa!

SANTUZZA (minacciosa.)
Bada!..

TURIDDU
Dell'ira tua non mi curo!
(la getta a terra e fugge in chiesa)

SANTUZZA (nel colmo dell'ira.)
A te la mala Pasqua, spergiuro!

SCENE EIGHTH
Santuzza and Alfio

SANTUZZA
Oh! the dear Saviour has sent you, Master Alfio!

ALFIO
At what point is the service?

SANTUZZA
It is now late;
But for you—Lola has just gone with Turiddu!

ALFIO
What have you spoken?

SANTUZZA
That while you were braving
The wind and weather, to earn your honest living,
Lola has turned your home into a brothel!

ALFIO
Ah! in the name of heaven, Santa! What say you!

SANTUZZA
The truth—Turiddu betrayed me, despoiled me of honor;
And your bad wife has taken him from me

ALFIO (threatening.)
If you are lying, I will tear out your heart

SANTUZZA
My lips were never used to lying. No, no, no, they are not liars!
By all my infamy! By my deepest sorrow!—
The saddest verity is before you! Ah, me!

ALFIO (after a pause.)
Dear Mistress Santa, then I to you am grateful

SANTUZZA
'Twas wicked in me to have spoken thus!

ALFIO
No! you are innocent, and I forgiving;
To utter hate my love has found a way;
But they are infamous, unfit for living!
And blood I'll have before the close of day!
(They go out)

SCENA VIII
Santuzza e Alfio

SANTUZZA
Oh! il Signore vi manda, compar Alfio!

ALFIO
A che punto è la messa?

SANTUZZA
È tardi omai,
Ma per voi, Lola è andata con Turiddu!

ALFIO
Che avete detto?

SANTUZZA
Che mentre correte
all'acqua e al vento a guadagnarvi il pane,
Lola v'adorna il tetto in malo modo!

ALFIO
Ah! nel nome di Dio, Santa, che dite?

SANTUZZA
Il ver. Turiddu mi tolso l'onore,
e vostra moglie lui rapiva a me!

ALFIO
Se voi mentite, vo' schiantarvi il core!

SANTUZZA
Uso a mentire il labbro mio non è!
Per la vergogna mia, pel mio dolore
la trista verità vi dissi, ahimè!

ALFIO
Comare Santa, allor grato vi sono

SANTUZZA
Infame io son che vi parlai così!

ALFIO
No, giusta siete stata, io vi condono;
in odio tutto l'amor mio finì....
Infami loro; ad essi non perdono;
vendetta avrò pria che tramonti il dì.
(escono)

SCENE NINTH
All come out of church, Lucia crosses the scene and enters her house.
Lola, Turiddu and Chorus

CHORUS OF MEN
Now homeward, companions, where we expect to see
Our wives and sweethearts, we'll go!
Let wildest revel lead us up to ecstasy!
Quickly let the wine flow!
(The chorus starts to go away)

TURIDDU (to Lola, who is going)
Well, Mistress Lola, are you going away
Without even saying "good-bye?"

LOLA
I'm going home;
I have not yet seen my husband!

TURIDDU
O never mind him! He will come here;
(To the chorus)
And, meanwhile, friends, approach!
A drink before I leave you!
(They all come to the table and take drinking cups)

TURIDDU
See the wine, as foaming whitely
In the glass it sparkles lightly,
Like a lover smiling brightly,
Gently whisp'ring words that bless!
See the honest cup so cheery!
It refreshes us when weary!
Drives away all humors dreary!
Gives ecstatic happiness!

CHORUS
See the wine, as foaming whitely
(They repeat the verse.)

TURIDDU (to Lola)
To your true lovers! (drinks.)

LOLA (to Turiddu)
To your most happy fortune! (drinks)

TURIDDU
We'll drink!

CHORUS
Let us keep up the contest!
SCENA IX
Tutti escono di chiesa, Lucia traversa la scena ed entra in casa.
Lola, Turiddu e Coro

UOMINI
A casa, a casa, amici, ove ci aspettano
le nostre donne, andiam,
Or che letizia rasserena gli animi
senza indugio corriam.—
(il Coro si avvia)

TURIDDU (a Lola che s'avvia.)
Comare Lola, ve ne andate via
senza nemmeno salutare?

LOLA
Vado
a casa e non ho visto compar Alfio!

TURIDDU
Non ci pensate, verrà in piazza.
(al Coro)
Intanto amici, qua,
beviamone un bicchiere
(tutti si avvicinano alla tavola dell'osteria e prendono i bicchieri)

TURIDDU
Viva il vino spumeggiante
nel bicchiere scintillante
come il riso dell'amante
mite infonde il giubilo!
Viva il vino ch' è sincero
che ci allieta ogni pensiero,
e che annega l'umor nero
nell'ebbrezza tenera

CORO
Viva il vino spumeggiante, ecc., ecc
(si ripete il brindisi)

TURIDDU (a Lola.)
Ai vostri amori! (beve)

LOLA (a Turiddu.)
Alla fortuna vostra! (beve)

TURIDDU
Beviam!

CORO
Beviam! Rinnovisi la giostra!
SCENE TENTH
Alfio and THE OTHERS

ALFIO
To all I give my greeting!

CHORUS
Master Alfio, we hail you!

TURIDDU
You are welcome! and with us must be drinking!
(he fills a glass)
Look now, the cup I fill you!

ALFIO (pushing away his arm and the glass)
Thanks, sir! Your cup of wine is not accepted!
In me it would be poison, my heart's blood chilling!

TURIDDU (throwing away the wine backward)
Then, at your pleasure!

LOLA
Ah me! what will this bring!

SOME WOMEN (to Lola)
Dear Mistress Lola! let's go away from here!
(All the women go out, taking Lola)

TURIDDU
Have you, sir, something to tell me?

ALFIO
I? Nothing

TURIDDU
Well then, sir,
I am quite at your service

ALFIO
This moment?

TURIDDU
This moment!
(Alfio and Turiddu embrace. Turiddu bites Alfio's right ear)

ALFIO
Master Turiddu, you have bitten quite firmly,
And we will both endeavor to do likewise

TURIDDU
Master Alfio, I know that the fault is my own;
SCENA X
Alfio e DETTI

ALFIO
A voi tutti salute!

CORO
Compar Alfio, salute!

TURIDDU
Benvenuto! con noi dovete bere:
(empie un bicchiere)
ecco, pieno è il bicchiere

ALFIO (respingendolo.)
Grazie, ma il vostro vino io non l'accetto,
diverrebbe veleno entro il mio petto!

TURIDDU (getta il vino.)
A piacer vostro!

LOLA
Ahimè! che mai sarà?

ALCUNE DONNE (a Lola.)
Comare Lola, andiamo via di qua
(tutte le donne escono conducendo Lola)

TURIDDU
Avete altro da dirmi?

ALFIO
Io nulla!

TURIDDU
Allora
sono agli ordini vostri

ALFIO
Or ora!

TURIDDU
Or ora!
(Alfio e Turiddu si abbracciano.—Turiddu morde l'orecchio destro di Alfio.)

ALFIO
Compar Turiddu, avete morso a buono.... (con intenzione)
c'intenderemo bene, a quel che pare!

TURIDDU
Compar Alfio, lo so che il torto è mio;
To you I swear, in the name of heaven,
That like a dog I should be slaughtered.
But ... if I live not ... she will be abandoned,...
My own poor Santa! Would I had been faithful! (with fury)
But I know how to put my knife in your heart!

ALFIO (coldly)
Well then, sir, do as it may suit your pleasure.
I will await you without, beyond the orchard
(He goes out)

e ve lo giuro nel nome di Dio
che al par d'un cane mi farei sgozzar;
ma ... s'io non vivo, resta abbandonata ...
povera Santa!... lei che mi s' è data ...
vi saprò in core il ferro mio piantar!

ALFIO (freddamente)
Compare, fate come più vi piace;
io v'aspetto qui fuori, dietro l'orto.
(esce)

SCENE ELEVENTH
Lucia and THE OTHERS, except Alfio

TURIDDU
Mother,... that old wine ... is very heady,... and surely
This day ... many a glass ... have I been drinking.
I'll go out for a moment;
But, ere I leave you,... give me your blessing,
As on that morning ... I, a soldier, left you....
And also,... mother,... remember;...
Should I ... return not,... you will be
A mother to Santa,... whom I have vainly promised
To conduct to the altar!

LUCIA
Why speak you thus to me, my loving son?

TURIDDU (with indifference)
O nothing! The wine has it to me suggested!
Surely the wine it must be. Pray you to heaven
For me. A kiss, my dearest mother! Another! Farewell!
(He embraces her and goes out quickly)

SCENA XI
Lucia e DETTI, meno Alfio

TURIDDU
Mamma, quel vino è generoso, e certo
oggi troppi bicchier ne ho tracannato ...
vado fuori all'aperto....
Ma prima voglio che mi benedite
come quel giorno che partii soldato ...
e poi ... mamma ... sentite ...
s'io ... non tornassi ... voi dovrete fare
da madre a Santa, ch'io le avea giurato
di condurla all'altare.—

LUCIA
Perchè parli così, figliuolo mio?

TURIDDU
Oh! nulla!... È il vino che mi ha suggerito!
Per me pregate Iddio!—
Un bacio, mamma ... un altro bacio ... addio!
(l'abbraccia ed esce precipitosamente)

SCENE TWELFTH
Lucia, Santuzza and THE OTHERS

LUCIA (desperate, rushing toward the back of the stage)
Turiddu! what said you?
(Going further back and calling in desperation)
Turiddu! Turiddu! Ah!—
(Enter Santuzza)
Santuzza!

SANTUZZA
O dearest mother!
(A confused murmur is heard in the distance)
(A woman screams)

They have murdered Master Turiddu!
(Some of the women enter, and one of them repeats the cry desperately. All come on the stage. SANTUZZA falls senseless. LUCIA swoons, and is surrounded by all the women)

The curtain falls quickly.
SCENA XII
Lucia, Santuzza e DETTI

LUCIA (disperata correndo in fondo.)
Oh Turiddu?! che vuoi dire?
(Va in fondo alla scena e disperatamente chiama)
Turiddu! Turiddu! ah!
(entra Santuzza.)
Santuzza!..

SANTUZZA (getta le braccia al collo di Lucia.)
Oh! madre mia!..
(si sente un mormorio lontano)

DONNE (correndo.)
Hanno ammazzato compare Turiddu!... (tutti gettano un grido)
(Alcune donne entrano, ed una di esse grida disperatamente. Tutti si precipitano sulla scena. SANTUZZA cade priva di sensi. LUCIA sviene, ed è sorretta dalle donne del Coro.)

(Cala precipitosamente il sipario.)







libretto by Willard G. Daylibretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti, Guido Menasci


* * * * * * * *




Cavalleria rusticana

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Cavalleria rusticana
Opera by Pietro Mascagni
Cavelleria Rusticana, scene from the 1890 premiere, Teatro Costanzi, Rome.jpg
Scene from the world premiere of the opera
LibrettistGiovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci
LanguageItalian
Based onCavalleria rusticana [it] (1880) by Giovanni Verga
Premiere
17 May 1890

Cavalleria rusticana (pronounced [kavalleˈriːa rustiˈkaːna]; Italian for "rustic chivalry") is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from an 1880 short story of the same name [it] and subsequent play by Giovanni Verga. Considered one of the classic verismo operas, it premiered on 17 May 1890 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. Since 1893, it has often been performed in a so-called Cav/Pag double-bill with Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo.[1]

Composition history

Mascagni (center) with his librettists, Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti (left) and Guido Menasci

In July 1888 the Milanese music publisher Edoardo Sonzogno announced a competition open to all young Italian composers who had not yet had an opera performed on stage. They were invited to submit a one-act opera which would be judged by a jury of five prominent Italian critics and composers. The best three would be staged in Rome at Sonzogno's expense.

Mascagni heard about the competition only two months before the closing date and asked his friend Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti, a poet and professor of literature at the Italian Royal Naval Academy in Livorno, to provide a libretto. Targioni-Tozzetti chose Cavalleria rusticana, a popular short story (and play) by Giovanni Verga, as the basis for the opera. He and his colleague Guido Menasci set about composing the libretto, sending it to Mascagni in fragments, sometimes only a few verses at a time on the back of a postcard. The opera was finally submitted on the last day that entries would be accepted. In all, 73 operas were submitted, and on 5 March 1890, the judges selected the final three: Niccola Spinelli's LabiliaVincenzo Ferroni [it]'s Rudello, and Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana.[2]

There have been two other operas based on Verga's story. The first, Mala Pasqua! (Bad Easter!) by Stanislao Gastaldon, was entered in the same competition as Mascagni's. However, Gastaldon withdrew it when he received an opportunity to have it performed at the Teatro Costanzi, where it premiered on 9 April 1890.[3] In the 1907 Sonzogno competition, Domenico Monleone submitted an opera based on the story, and likewise called Cavalleria rusticana. The opera was not successful in the competition, but premiered later that year in Amsterdam and went on to a successful tour throughout Europe, ending in Turin. Sonzogno, wishing to protect the lucrative property which Mascagni's version had become, took legal action and successfully had Monleone's opera banned from performance in Italy.[4] Monleone changed the opera ‘beyond recognition’, setting the music to a new libretto. In this form it was presented as La giostra dei falchi in 1914.[4]

Performance history

Premiere

Cavalleria rusticana opened on the evening of 17 May 1890 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome to a half empty house. However, the audience included not only the most authoritative music critics in the country but also Queen Margherita, a great music lover. It was a success from its opening notes. Following Stagno's rendition of the Siciliana behind the curtain, the audience leaped to their feet with a thunderous applause not heard for many years. The Siciliana was encored as were several other numbers in the opera.[5] It was a sensation, with Mascagni taking 40 curtain calls and winning the First Prize.[5][6]

Subsequent performances

Although Mascagni had started writing two other operas earlier (Pinotta, premiered in 1932, and Guglielmo Ratcliff, premiered in 1895), Cavalleria rusticana was his first opera to be completed and performed. It remains the best known of his fifteen operas and one operetta (). Apart from Cavalleria rusticana, only Iris and L'amico Fritz have remained in the standard repertory, with Isabeau and Il piccolo Marat on the fringes of the Italian repertoire. Its success has been phenomenal ever since its first performance. At the time of Mascagni's death in 1945, the opera had been performed more than 14,000 times in Italy alone.[7]

In 1890, following its run of sold-out performances at the Teatro Costanzi, the opera was produced throughout Italy and in Berlin. It received its London premiere at the Shaftesbury Theatre on 19 October 1891 and its Covent Garden premiere on 16 May 1892.[8]

American producers vied with each other (sometimes through the courts) to be the first to present the opera in that country. Cavalleria rusticana finally had its American premiere in Philadelphia at the Grand Opera House on 9 September 1891, followed by a performance in Chicago on 30 September 1891. The opera premiered in New York City on 1 October 1891, with two rival performances on the same day: an afternoon performance at the Casino, directed by Rudolph Aronson, and an evening performance at the Lenox Lyceum, directed by Oscar Hammerstein.[8]

Gemma Bellincioni as Santuzza, and her husband, Roberto Stagno, as Turiddu, in the 1890 premiere of Cavalleria rusticana

The opera received its first performance at the Metropolitan Opera on 30 December 1891 in a double bill with a fragment of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, and has since received over 700 performances there.

The opera was played during the 1920s in African-American theaters in Chicago. For example, the Vendome, featuring the orchestra of Erskine Tate, played music from this opera. Notably, Louis Armstrong performed and memorized the trumpet solo, coming out of the pit and mounting the stage to play it.[9]

Roles

Roles, voice types, premiere cast
RoleVoice typePremiere cast, 17 May 1890
Conductor: Leopoldo Mugnone
Santuzza, a peasant girlsopranoGemma Bellincioni
Turiddu, a young villager recently returned from the armytenorRoberto Stagno
Lucia, his mothercontraltoFederica Casali
Alfio, a carterbaritoneGaudenzio Salassa
Lola, Alfio's wifemezzo-sopranoAnnetta Gulì

Synopsis

Place: A 19th-century Sicilian village[10]
Time: Easter morning

Before the action takes place, the young villager Turiddu returned from military service to find out that his fiancée Lola had married the carter Alfio while he was away.[11] In revenge, Turiddu seduced Santuzza, a young woman in the village. As the opera begins, Lola, overcome by her jealousy of Santuzza, has begun an adulterous affair with Turiddu.

The main square of the village

Offstage, Turiddu is heard singing a siciliana, "O Lola c'hai di latti la cammisa" ("O Lola, you whose blouse is as white as milk", commonly rendered in English as "O Lola! like the snow, pure in thy whiteness!"). To one side is the church; to the other is Lucia's wine-shop and the house where she lives with her son, Turiddu. The villagers move about the square, singing of the beautiful spring day, "Gli aranci olezzano sui verdi margini" (literally, "Oranges smell good on the green edges", rendered as "The air is sweet with orange blossoms" in the English libretto) and a hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Some villagers enter the church, and others wander off still singing.

Santuzza, having slept with Turiddu and suspecting that he has betrayed her for Lola, is distraught and approaches Lucia as she comes out of her house. Santuzza asks for Turiddu, but Lucia replies that he has gone to another town to fetch some wine. Santuzza tells her that he was seen during the night in the village. Lucia asks her inside to talk, but just at that moment Alfio arrives on his wagon, accompanied by the villagers. He praises the joys of a teamster's life and the beauty of Lola his bride. Alfio asks Lucia for some of her fine old wine. She tells him it has run out and Turiddu has gone away to buy more. Alfio replies that he had seen Turiddu early that morning near his cottage. Lucia starts to express surprise, but Santuzza stops her.

Alfio leaves. The choir inside the church is heard singing the Regina Coeli. Outside, the villagers sing an Easter Hymn, "Inneggiamo, il Signor non è morto" ("Let us sing hymns, the Lord is not dead", or "We rejoice that our Saviour is living!" in the English version) joined by Santuzza. The villagers enter the church, while Santuzza and Lucia remain outside. Lucia asks Santuzza why she signalled her to remain silent when Alfio said that he had seen Turiddu that morning. Santuzza exclaims, "Voi lo sapete" ("You well know") and tells Lucia the story of her seduction by Turiddu and his affair with Lola. Lucia pities Santuzza, who feels dishonored, having been seduced by Turiddu only to be abandoned by him for his old flame, Lola. Santuzza feels she cannot enter the church, but begs Lucia to go inside herself and pray for Santuzza who stays behind to try to plead with Turiddu to leave Lola and return to her.

Santuzza pleads with Turiddu that he not go to meet with Lola again.

Turiddu arrives. Santuzza upbraids him for pretending to have gone away, when he was actually seeing Lola. Lola enters the square singing. She mocks Santuzza and goes inside the church. Turiddu turns to follow Lola, but Santuzza begs him to stay. Turiddu pushes her away. She clings to him. He loosens her hands, throws her to the ground, and enters the church. Alfio arrives looking for Lola. Santuzza tells him that his wife has betrayed him with Turiddu. Alfio swears to take vendetta (revenge) which causes Santuzza to repent for having disclosed the affair and begs Alfio to stop, but to no avail.

The square is empty as the orchestra plays the famous Intermezzo.

Turiddu bites Alfio's ear

The villagers come out of the church. Turiddu is in high spirits because he is with Lola and Santuzza appears to have gone. He invites his friends to his mother's wine-shop where he sings a drinking song, "Viva, il vino spumeggiante" ("Hail to the bubbling wine!"). Alfio joins them. Turiddu offers him wine, but he refuses it. All understand that trouble is in the air. The women leave, taking Lola with them. In a brief exchange of words, Alfio challenges Turiddu to a duel. Following Sicilian custom, the two men embrace, and Turiddu, in a token of acceptance, bites Alfio's ear, drawing blood which signifies a fight to the death. Alfio leaves and Turiddu calls Lucia back. He tells her that he is going outside to get some air and asks that she be a kindly mother to Santuzza if he should not return: "Un bacio, mamma! Un altro bacio!—Addio!" ("One kiss, mother! One more kiss! – Farewell!").

Turiddu rushes out. Lucia, weeping, wanders aimlessly around outside her house. Santuzza approaches and throws her arms around her. The villagers start to crowd around. Voices are heard in the distance and a woman cries, "They have murdered Turiddu!" Santuzza faints and Lucia collapses in the arms of the women villagers.

Instrumentation

Mascagni calls for a standard-sized orchestra consisting of 2 flutes, 2 piccolos, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombonestubatimpani, percussion (trianglecymbalsbass drumside drumtamtamtubular bells), harporgan and strings.

Recordings

Advertisement for 1930 radio broadcast with Lisa Roma

There have been over 100 full-length recordings of Cavalleria rusticana published since it was first recorded in Germany in 1909.[12][13] As in live performances of the opera, recordings of the work have often been paired with Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci. In addition to the original Italian, recordings of the work in the English, French, German, and Hungarian languages have been released.[14] Mascagni himself conducted the opera in two recordings, the better-known of which is the 1940 EMI recording made to mark the 50th anniversary of the opera's premiere. The performance by the La Scala orchestra and chorus with Lina Bruna Rasa as Santuzza and Beniamino Gigli as Turiddu also has a spoken introduction by Mascagni. Originally released as an LP, it is available on CD under several historical recording labels.[15]

Radio

A double-bill performance of Cavalleria and Pagliacci was transmitted as the first broadcast by New York City's Metropolitan Opera on 11 December 1910.[16] Radio pioneer Lee de Forest talked Giulio Gatti-Casazza, the Met manager, into sending the program over the airwaves by using a backstage radio transmitter and a rooftop antenna, "using a long fishing pole for his mast." Enrico Caruso and Emmy Destinn were in the leading roles.[17]

Few listened. There were no radios. But public receivers had been set up in several well-advertised locations in New York City, and people could catch at least an inkling of the music on earphones. The next day, The New York Times reported that static and other interference "kept the homeless song waves from finding themselves."[17]

In Los Angeles, an "Italian Night" concert was heard live "in its entirety" on May 6, 1930, as the third program of the Adohr opera series over radio station KFI, featuring "A distinguished cast ... headed by Lisa Roma, noted lyric soprano ... Music lovers should not fail to tune in."[18]

Poster for the Carmine Gallone film version of Cavalleria rusticana (1953)

A notable use of the Intermezzo from Cavalleria rusticana in the United States was as the theme for a regular radio broadcast, Symphony of the Rockies, which featured "a small string group playing light classical music" in the 1930s and 1940s over Denver radio station KOA, then owned and operated by the NBC network. It "was a 'feed' to the entire network from the KOA studios."[19]

Film

Apart from video recordings of live performances, there have been several cinematic versions of Cavalleria rusticana, the most notable of which are:

Costumed excerpts from the opera are performed in Mario Lanza's popular films The Great Caruso (1951) and Because You're Mine (1952). The opera's symphonic Intermezzo has figured in the sound track of several films, most notably in the opening of Raging Bull[20] and in the finale of The Godfather Part III, which also featured a performance of the opera as a key part of the film's climax.[21]

References

  1. ^ Sims 2007.
  2. ^ Willard 1893.
  3. ^ Sanvitale, Francesco, La romanza italiana da salotto Archived 2017-01-18 at the Wayback Machine, EDT srl, 2002, p. 491
  4. Jump up to:a b Stevens 2001
  5. Jump up to:a b Weaver 1987.
  6. ^ Anon. 1945.
  7. ^ Schweisheimer 1946.
  8. Jump up to:a b Kobbé 1919.
  9. ^ Brothers, Thomas (2014). Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism. New York: W. W. Norton. pp. 186–187. ISBN 978-0-393-06582-4.
  10. ^ Synopsis is based on Targioni-Tozzetti, G. and Menasci, G. (1902). Libretto: Cavalleria rusticana Archived 2009-03-26 at the Wayback Machine in Italian and English translation by Willard G. Day. F. Rullman
  11. ^ In Italian carrettiere, presumably an owner-driver of the traditional Sicilian cart
  12. ^ Recordings on the opera on operadis-opera-discography.org.uk Archived 2012-04-16 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 6 February 2010
  13. ^ For extensive annotated discographies, see Mascagni.org Archived 2012-06-30 at archive.today and Flury, R. (2001) Pietro Mascagni - A Bio-Bibliography, Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-313-29662-6
  14. ^ Gruber, Paul (5 May 1993). The Metropolitan Opera Guide to Recorded Opera. W. W. Norton. ISBN 9780393034448. Retrieved 5 May 2018 – via Internet Archive.
  15. ^ Mallach, Alan (2002). Pietro Mascagni and His Operas Archived 2017-01-25 at the Wayback Machine, p. 298. University Press of New England. ISBN 1555535240
  16. ^ Joseph McLellan, "Texaco & the Met: Premium Performance; the 50th Season of Radio Broadcast Begins," Washington Post, 17 December 1989 (registration required) Archived 5 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  17. Jump up to:a b Fantel, Hans (14 January 1990). "Sound: Out of De Forest and Onto the Air Came Music"The New York Times.
  18. ^ Daggett, John S. (6 May 1930). "Receiving Set Boon to Home"Los Angeles Times. p. 21.
  19. ^ Melrose, Frances (12 July 1998). "Airing Memories of 'Rhapsody' on Radio"Rocky Mountain News. Denver. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012.
  20. ^ Powrie & Stilwell 2006, p. 21.
  21. ^ Lauri-Lucente 2003.

Sources

Further reading

External links


Friday, April 15, 2022

EASTER'S 15 GREATEST CLASSICAL PIECES

 



EASTER MUSIC: THE 15 GREATEST CLASSICAL PIECES
18 April 2019, 16:01 | Updated: 18 April 2019, 21:23


Easter hymns and sacred music favourites tell the story of Jesus.

From Bach’s Passion music to Handel’s Messiah, here are our top pieces of music that depict the final days of Jesus and his resurrection.

With so much classical music on offer on the subject of Easter and Jesus on the cross, here are our favourite pieces of music that are perfect for Easter weekend.


The Easter Hymn from Pietro Mascagni's opera Cavalleria Rusticana.

No matter what we believe in, it’s hard to deny the beauty behind this piece – in its music and meaning. It is Easter morning in a 19th-century Italian village. Santuzza’s character sings the Easter Hymn in this excerpt, also referred to as both “Regina Coeli” and “Inneggiano”. She is singing to herself as her Sicilian village takes part in Easter festivities.

“Inneggiamo, il Signor non è morto” — “We rejoice that our Savior is living!”

We rejoice that our Savior is living!
He all-glorious arose from the dead;
Joys of heaven the Lord to us giving,
All the sorrows of darkness are fled!

Listen here (6 minute listen), the German soprano Julia Varady (singing the role of Santuzza) with The London Opera Chorus and The National Philharmonic conducted by Gianandrea Gavazzeni


EASTER HYMN (REGINA COELI)
from CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA - Julia Varady
Nov 25, 2013

Julia Varady with The National Philharmonic conducted by Gianandrea Gavazzeni and The London Opera Chorus directed by Terry Edwards. "Sto cercando di individuare le chiese e loro posizioni. Ho perso i miei appunti originali e apprezzerei il vostro aiuto." - SICILY.

Time
00.00  Messina The Church of Christ the King 
00.17   Palermo Cathedral
00.29  Chiesa di S. Guiseppe (XV11) - Taormina
00.40  Chiesa Madre - Augusta
00.59  The Church of Christ the King - Messina
01.19   Modica, S. Maria del Soccorso 
01.37  The Cathedral of Syracuse (Duomo di Siracusa)
01.53  The Cathedral of Syracuse (Duomo di Siracusa)
02.20  Chiesa di S. Maria - San Piero Patti
02.27  Monreale Cathedral
03.02  Taormina, San Giussepe
03.19  Palermo, Santa Caterina
03.50  Palatine chapel of St Peter and St Paul, Palermo.
04.02   Palermo, Santa Caterina
04.23   Casteltermi
04.36  
04.50  Messina 12th Century Church of Annunziata dei Catalani
05.07  Fiumefreddo (Ct) - La Chiesa parrocchiale


Regina Coeli - Pietro Mascagni
Jan 3, 2016


Regina Coeli - Pietro Mascagni da Cavalleria Rusticana
Atri - Basilica Cattedrale - 17 dicembre 2015
direttore: PASQUALE VELENO
Concerto Giovane Orchestra d’Abruzzo, Skyline Brass Ensemble, Coro dell’Accademia di Pescara, Coro Vox Nova di Fabriano, Coro Ventidio Basso di Ascoli Piceno - Laura Toro, soprano - Riccardo della Sciucca, tenore - Davide Filipponi, basso Maestri del coro: Pasquale Veleno, Alberto Signori, Giovanni Farina


Inneggiamo al Signore (Aclamemos al Señor) - subtitulado
Mar 29, 2012


Selección y traducción por P. Pablo Scaratti
Pietro mascagni -Inneggiamo il Signore è risorto - da " Cavalleria Rusticana "
17° Concerto d'Autunno eseguito il giorno 18 ottobre 2008 presso la Chiesa parrocchiale di Gessate -
Direttore : M° Pierangelo Pelucchi
Soprano : Nicoletta Ceruti
Organista : Emilio Brambilla
Organo : Balbiani - Vegezzi - Bossi (se non ricordo male 32 composizioni sonore) anno costruzione : circa 1968
Corale S.s.Pietro & Paolo www.coralegessate.org
Orchestra sinfonica Gaetano Donizetti di Gessate


St. John Passion – Bach

Bach's St. John Passion is the earlier of the two Easter story settings of his that have survived.

It was composed in 1724 for the Good Friday Vespers service that year, setting Chapters 18 and 19 of John’s accounts of the crucifixion to music.


It is well worth sitting down and listening to this work in its entirety if you haven't done so before.


Bach - St John Passion BWV 245 - Van Veldhoven
 Netherlands Bach Society
Apr 10, 2018

The St John Passion, performed by the Nederlands Bach Society for All of Bach, was the first Passion Bach had written as cantor in Leipzig. The Passion story as told in the Gospel of John is different from that told by the other three evangelists – Matthew, Luke and Mark. John’s version places the emphasis on Christ’s divine origin. Throughout his suffering, this divine origin still plays a role and nowhere is Jesus as human as in the other gospels. 
For this performance, we selected a cast of singers under the age of 35. Apart from the leaders, all the orchestra members are also younger than 35. The concert series was preceded by a course of auditions and masterclasses.


St. Matthew Passion – Bach

The monumental St. Matthew Passion is hailed as the greatest setting of the Passion story in Western music but surprisingly, it was not until almost 100 years after its premiere that Bach’s music got the recognition it deserved.

Composed in 1727, it is a setting of sections of St Matthew’s Gospel, designed as part of Good Friday Vespers for the strict Lutheran stronghold of Leipzig. Following its premiere, it received two subsequent performances in 1736 and the 1740s. After that it was not performed again for almost 100 years.


A Fast and Friendly Guide to Bach | Classic FM
Jun 18, 2012

Join Classic FM Drive presenter John Brunning as he takes you on an animated tour of the life of Johann Sebastian Bach - one of music's most sublime creative geniuses.


Messiah – Handel

Although we know this piece from its iconic ‘Hallelujah’ chorus, there is so much more to this essential piece of Easter music.

Since its premiere in 1742, it has been performed by choirs across the world every year since at least 1745.


Handel's Messiah (Easter Concert)
by the Tabernacle Choir & Orchestra
Premiered Mar 26, 2021




The Hallelujah Chorus - Forté Handbell Quartet

Handel began composing the Messiah in 1741, and took a painstaking 14 years to arrive at the version we know today.

Impressive solo arias, like ‘Ev’ry valley shall be exalted’ and ‘Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion’ are interspersed with compelling chorus numbers, telling the story of Jesus’ birth, life, death, resurrection, and final victory over sin and death.

The rousing ‘Hallelujah’ chorus is by far the most widely-known section of the work, and audiences tend to stand during performances – a tradition that allegedly began when King George II stood during the chorus at the oratorio’s London debut performance.


Music Classic Handel from Forté Handbell Quartet
Dec 22, 2020




Amazing Grace – John Newton

‘Amazing Grace’ is one of the world’s most recognisable melodies. Not only is it a popular hymn, there are also countless recordings of the song, including Aretha Franklin’s, and Elvis Presley’s have given the song worldwide recognition.

The hymn was first published in 1779 by the English poet and clergyman John Newton. The song shares the message of forgiveness and redemption, an important message to appreciate over Easter.


Aretha Franklin - Amazing Grace (Official Audio)
Feb 10, 2019


The official audio of "Amazing Grace" by Aretha Franklin with James Cleveland and The Southern California Community Choir from the album 'Amazing Grace' (1972). 'Amazing Grace' earned Aretha a Grammy in 1973 for Best Soul Gospel Performance and remains the best selling Gospel album of all time.


Symphony No. 2 (‘Resurrection’) – Mahler

This monumental orchestral work is really quite something to behold.

Up until this point, Mahler shared a confused standpoint on religion, but this symphony became his first piece to establish his view of the beauty of the resurrection.

Mahler was moved to incorporate the line “Rise again, yes, you shall rise again / My dust” as the
opening to the final movement of his second symphony.

Although Mahler was compelled to use the resurrection as subject matter for the symphony, it isn't as straightforward as the title might suggest. This symphony explores life and death in all its light and dark facets.



Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection)
May 16, 2008




How Great Thou Art – Carl Boberg

‘How Great Thou Art’ is a traditional Christian hymn based on an anonymous melody and a poem written by Carl Boberg in 1885.

It has previously been voted as the United Kingdom’s favourite hymn, and second on a worldwide ranking, only pipped to the post by ‘Amazing Grace’.


Winchester Cathedral: HOW GREAT THOU ART
Jun 27, 2014

A British Christian Music Programme



Miserere – Allegri

This haunting choral work by Gregorio Allegri sets the Latin text of Miserere mei, Deus (in fact the piece’s full title) from Psalm 51 to music for two choirs.

It’s not certain when Allegri’s Miserere was composed, but we know it was during the reign of Pope Urban VIIII, probably during the 1630s. It would have been used for services in the Sistine Chapel on Holy Wednesday and Good Friday of Holy Week.


Allegri - Miserere mei, Deus
Feb 10, 2011

The magnificent "Miserere mei, Deus" composed by Allegri and here brilliantly performed by the Choir of New College, Oxford.


Russian Easter Festival Overture – Rimsky-Korsakov

This romantic score by Rimsky-Korsakov is a fresh deviation from most choral works associated with religious holidays.

The score is prefaced by two quotations from the Old and New Testaments, and a third written by the composer himself.

The Russian Easter Festival Overture is the composer’s account of an Easter morning service – “not in a domestic chapel, but in a cathedral thronged with people from every walk of life, and with several priests conducting the cathedral service.”


Rimsky-Korsakov - Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36
May 30, 2011


Fledermaus1990
Also known as The Great Russian Easter Overture, is a concert overture written by the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov between August 1887 and April 1888, and dedicated to the memories of Modest Mussorgsky and Alexander Borodin, two members of the legendary "Mighty Handful".

It is subtitled "Overture on Liturgical Themes". It is the last of the composer's series of three exceptionally brilliant orchestral works, preceded by Capriccio Espagnol and Scheherazade. The work received its premiere in St. Petersburg in late December 1888.

Conductor: Zubin Mehta
Orchestra: Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

Picture: Il'ja Efimovič RepinEaster Procession in the region of Kursk (1880-1883)


Invictus: A Passion – Howard Goodall

Composer Howard Goodall said of his new work:
“Much of the Passion in general – persecution of the innocent, malevolent authority exerting itself against ideas that threaten and challenge, the power of a peaceful, loving humility in the face of tyranny, the facing-down of fear – holds profound universal resonance for people of many faiths and those of none. It is this universal meaning that my Invictus: A Passion hopes to address, so that [...] it might find relevance with choirs and their audiences or congregations everywhere.”

 

Invictus: A Passion: Invictus
Aug 30, 2018


Christ Church Cathedral Choir
Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises
Invictus: A Passion: Invictus · Christ Church Cathedral Choir · Howard Goodall · The Lanyer Ensemble · Stephen Darlington · Mark Dobell


Parsifal – Wagner

Wagner's opera Parsifal all takes place on Good Friday. The Good Friday music from Act III of the opera is a standalone work of art in its own right, but if you have a few hours to spare, we'd recommend you listen to this sublime opera in its entirety.


Parsifal - Karfreitagszauber
Good Friday Music - Wagner - Kempe
Sep 30, 2016


moltovivace

Instrumental Karfreitagszauber from Act 3 of
Richard Wagner's opera Parsifal (1882)

Conductor: Rudolf Kempe 
Orchestra: Wiener Philharmoniker (Vienna Philharmonic)

Recorded in 1960, remastered in 1990.

Label: Angel Records
Year released: 1995



The Seven Last Words of Christ – Haydn

The Seven Last Words of Christ, or using its full name The Seven Last Words of Our Saviour on the Cross is an orchestral work composed by Joseph Haydn for the 1786 Good Friday service at Oratorio de la Santa Cueva in Spain.

The composer adapted the music three times – once in 1787 for string quartet, again in 1796 as an oratorio for solo and chorus, and he also approved a solo piano version.


Joseph Haydn - The Seven Last Words of Christ
(Full Concert) (Full HD)
Apr 29, 2012


ClassicalMusicTVHD
The Seven Last Words of Our Saviour On the Cross (German: Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze) is an orchestral work by Joseph Haydn, commissioned in 1785 or 1786 for the Good Friday service at Cádiz Cathedral in Spain. The composer adapted it in 1787 for string quartet and in 1796 as an oratorio (with both solo and choral vocal forces), and he approved a version for solo piano.

The seven main meditative sections — labelled "sonatas" and all slow — are framed by an Introduction and a speedy "Earthquake" conclusion, for a total of nine movements. Complete all movements.


Easter Oratorio – Bach

It’s no surprise that with a catalogue that includes both of his Passions and the Easter Oratorio, Bach is hailed as one of the finest classical composers of sacred music.

The first version of the work was actually completed as a cantata for Easter Sunday in 1725, but it was later given the Easter Oratorio title in a revived version ten years later.

The Easter Oratorio has four characters assigned to the four voice parts; Simon Peter (tenor), John the Apostle (bass), Mary Magdalene (alto) and Mary Jacobe (soprano).


J.S. Bach - Easter Oratorio, BWV 249
Apr 23, 2011


BachHarmony

The Amsterdam Baroque Choir
The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
Ton Koopman



Lamentations of Jeremiah the Prophet – Tallis

This is the first of many settings of The Lamentations of Jeremiah the Prophet by a number of composers.

Thomas Tallis scored the work for five voices – an alto, two tenors and a two basses in the Latin text of the bible used in Tallis’ lifetime.


Thomas Tallis - Lamentations of Jeremiah I
Feb 11, 2010


Thomas Tallis (c. 1505 - 1585):
LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH I
Thomas Tallis was an English organist and composer whose career spanned the reigns of four monarchs and a long period of religious change. He occupies a primary place in anthologies of English church music, and is considered among the most talented of England's early composers.

This is part one of his 'Lamentations of Jeremiah', which sets to music verses 1-2 of Chapter 1 (Book of Lamentations).
0:06 Incipit lamentatio etc
1:13 Aleph. Quomodo sedet etc
3:24 Beth. Plorans ploravit etc
6:09 Ierusalem, convertere etc
Incipit lamentatio Ieremiae prophetae.
ALEPH. Quomodo sedet sola civitas plena populo! Facta est quasi vidua domina gentium; princeps provinciarum facta est sub tributo.
BETH. Plorans ploravit in nocte, et lacrimæ ejus in maxillis ejus: non est qui consoletur eam, ex omnibus caris ejus; omnes amici ejus spreverunt eam, et facti sunt ei inimici.
Ierusalem, convertere ad Dominum Deum tuum.
trans. Book of Lamentations 1:1-2
Here begins the lamentation of Jeremiah the prophet.
A. How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she that was great among the nations! She that was a princess among the cities has become a vassal.
B. She weeps bitterly in the night, tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they have become her enemies.
Jerusalem, turn again to the Lord your God.
The Sixteen Choir
Conducted by Harry Christophers