Main 4K
Tuesday 21 Apr 2020, 19:00 - ends at 22:00
Pietro Mascagni adapted Giovanni Verga’s play Cavalleria rusticana (Rustic Chivalry) for a competition held by the music publisher Edoardo Sonzogno. His opera, a verismo masterpiece, won the competition and became a tremendous success on its premiere on 17 May 1890, going on to inspire Ruggero Leoncavallo’s opera Pagliacci. Italian director Damiano Michieletto’s Olivier Award-winning production of both works for The Royal Opera updates them to southern Italy in the late 20th century, to a village in the grip of poverty and hypocrisy, where strong passions lurk in the dark.
