Schedule for Pietro Mascagni, "Cavalleria Rusticana" 2022

Costume Designer: Maria Danilova
Set Designer: Ernst Heidebreht
Stage Director: Kari Heiskanen
Music Director: Anatoly Gus

Orchestra: Symphony Orchestra of the "New Opera" Theatre

Musical drama in one act
Libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci after the novella and the play by Giovanni Verga
Performed in Italian

Running time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Time and place: any. Early in the morning Turiddu sings about his former beloved, Lola, now the wife of 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. Santuzza tells Mamma Lucia that Turiddu has taken up with Lola again. When the old woman has gone, 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. 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 that Turiddu has been killed.