01/13/17-Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci-1.00 pm
PIETRO MASCAGNI / RUGGERO LEONCAVALLO
Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci
Roberto Alagna takes on the leading tenor roles in both parts of opera’s most popular double bill. In Cavalleria Rusticana, Ekaterina Semenchuk and Eva-Maria Westbroek share the role of the woebegone Santuzza, with Aleksandra Kurzak as the hot-blooded Nedda in Pagliacci. Nicola Luisotti conducts Sir David McVicar’s production, which heightens the melo-dramaticaction of this timeless verismo pairing.
- SUNG IN ITALIAN
- ESTIMATED RUN TIME: 3 HRS 3 MINS
- photo credit: Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera.
CAST
CONDUCTOR
Nicola Luisotti
SANTUZZA
Ekaterina Semenchuk
TURIDDU
Roberto Alagna
ALFIO
Željko Lučić
NEDDA
Aleksandra Kurzak
CANIO
Roberto Alagna
TONIO
George Gagnidze
SILVIO
Alessio Arduini
Cavalleria Rusticana, World premiere: Teatro Costanzi, Rome, 1890. Met company premiere: Chicago (on tour), December 4, 1891.
Pagliacci, World premiere: Teatro dal Verme, Milan, 1892. Met premiere: December 11, 1893.
Two tales of passion, jealousy, and death set in southern Italy, Cav/Pag have been all but inseparable on the opera stages of the world since the Met first presented them as a double bill in 1893. The overwhelming success of Cavalleria was crucial in launching the verismo movement, inspiring other composers (including Leoncavallo) to turn to stories and characters from real life, and often from society’s grungier elements.