Carmina Burana with Cavalleria Rusticana (Rustic Chivalry)
Taormina Greek Theatre, 9.30pm
Cavalleria rusticana is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945) to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from a play written by Giovanni Verga based on his short story.
It is the first and best known Mascagni’s works. Its success has been phenomenal from its first performance in the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on May 17, 1890 until the present day. At the time of Mascagni’s death in 1945, the opera had been performed more than 14,000 times in Italy alone.
“The Teatro Illustrato invites young Italian musicians to participate in a new competition for a one-act opera.” In 1888, the publisher Sonzogno launched its second competition for young Italian composers. The winner was Pietro Mascagni with Cavalleria rusticana, and so it was that this story of an honour killing in a Sicilian village in the late nineteenth century, from a short story of the same name by Verga, entered the operatic canon.
Owing to the intense dramatic power of the score and libretto, the opera quickly became recognised as a manifesto of Italian verism.
(Source: www.symphonyspace.org)
Santuzza. Daniela Dessì,
Turiddu: Fabio Armiliato
Lola: Giuseppina Piunti
Mama Lucia: Maria José Trullu
Stage Director & Set Designer: Enrico Castiglione
PRICES FROM TODAY TO MARCH 10th
Stalls (Parterre): € 75,00
Gallery: € 50,50
Upper circle (numbered seats): € 39,00
Upper circle (non-numbered seats): € 22,00
PRICES FROM MARCH 10th TO APRIL 30th
Stalls (Parterre): € 85,00
Gallery: € 57,00
Upper circle (numbered seats): € 44,00
Upper circle (non-numbered seats): € 27,50
PRICES FROM MAY 1st TO JUNE 30th
Stalls (Parterre): € 95,00
Gallery: € 63,00
Upper circle (numbered seats): € 49,00
Upper circle (non-numbered seats): € 33,00
PRICES FROM JULY 1st TO EVENT
Stalls (Parterre): € 105,00
Gallery: € 70,00
Upper circle (numbered seats): € 54,00
Upper circle (non-numbered seats): € 38,00
Tickets on boxol.it for August 8 and August 12 and on ctbox.it
Ticket Office in Taormina: +39 0942.628730
SYNOPSIS
A Sicilian village, c. 1890. Early on Easter morning, Turiddu sings about his former beloved, Lola, now the wife of a wine carter, Alfio. As the town stirs, Santuzza, Turiddu’s neglected sweetheart, comes looking for the handsome youth at the tavern of his mother, Lucia. The girl reveals she has been excommunicated, but before she can explain why, Alfio comes by with friends, boasting about his pretty young wife. A religious procession fills the square and enters the church for mass, leaving Santuzza to tell Mamma Lucia that Turiddu has taken up with Lola again. When the old woman has gone to mass, Santuzza confronts Turiddu with his betrayal. Lola passes by, and Turiddu follows her into church. Santuzza hurls a curse after him, then, consumed by jealousy, tells Alfio of Lola’s infidelity. Santuzza immediately feels remorse, but the damage is done.
When the mass ends, Turiddu and the villagers drink wine, after which Alfio insults Turiddu, who accepts a challenge to duel with knives in a nearby orchard. He begs his mother to take care of Santuzza if he does not return. As Mamma Lucia and Santuzza wait anxiously, shouts rise in the distance. A woman stumbles in crying Turiddu has been killed.
(Source: www.metoperafamily.org)
