Cavalleria rusticana

Stagno and Bellincioni as Tiriddu and Santuzza in the 1890 first performance

Cavalleria rusticana is an Italian opera. The music was written by Pietro Mascagni. The story and words (libretto) were written by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci. The opera was based on a play by Giovanni Verga. It was first performed in Rome on 17 May 1890. The work marked the beginning of the verismo style in Italian opera. It is often played with Ruggiero Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci to make a full evening. Both operas are just a little over one hour each.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, 17 May 1890 (Conductor: Leopoldo Mugnone )
Santuzza, a peasant girl	soprano	Gemma Bellincioni
Turiddu, a young villager recently returned from the army	tenor	Roberto Stagno
Lucia, his mother	contralto	Federica Casali
Alfio, a carter	baritone	Guadenzio Salassa
Lola, his wife	mezzo-soprano	Annetta Guli

Sources

• The Complete Dictionary of Opera & Operetta, James Anderson, Wings Books, 1993.
• The Earl of Harewood. 1989. Kobbe's Illustrated Opera Book. Putnam's. ISBN 0-399-13475-1. pages 110-112.