OPERNHAUS BRATISLAVA/PRESSBURG - CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA/ PAGLIACCI at SLOWAKISCHES NATIONALTHEATER - NEUBAU DES NATIONALTHEATERS

Pietro Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana
Melodramma in one act (sung in Italian)

´Pagliacci´ (1892) and ´Cavalleria rusticana´ (1890) represent Italian verismo, a trend in opera which at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries chose as the focus of its interest everyday reality: the gritty truth of instincts and passions, of fear, hatred and jealousy, but also the truth of love and heroism. The musical language of the two operas is appealing and full of changes, contrasts and dramatic tension. And the same holds for the two stories set: Pagliacci is the tragedy of the ageing actor Canio, who learns from the embittered stirrer Tonio of the infidelity of his young wife and in revenge kills both her and her lover. The no less tragic issue of ´Cavalleria rusticana´ follows from the illicit relationship of the flighty Lola and her former lover Turrido, for which, as ancient tradition dictates, he must pay Lola´s husband with his blood.