Cavalleria Rusticana

OCT 1 & 3 | 2021

Music by Pietro Mascagni
Libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci

Sung in Italian with English surtitles
Approximate Running Time: 1 hour 10 minutes, no intermission

 

Join us for Boston Lyric Opera’s first production of Cavalleria Rusticana, Mascagni’s verismo tale of love, betrayal, and death in a small Sicilian village. Experience the thrill of live, large-scale opera together in the open air at Leader Bank Pavilion on Boston’s waterfront.

On Easter Sunday morning in a 19th century Sicilian village, Turridu sings of his ardent love for Lola. Turridu, a young villager, had once been engaged to Lola, but returned from military service to find that she had married Alfio, a carter in the town. Heartbroken, Turridu retaliated by seducing the peasant girl, Santuzza, but also still maintains an affair with Lola.

Later that morning, Santuzza, tearful and distressed, approaches the tavern of Turridu’s mother, Lucia. Santuzza demands to know where Turridu has gone, but Mother Lucia is reluctant to divulge his whereabouts. Lucia claims that her son is out of town buying wine, but Santuzza is convinced that Turridu has been seen nearby in the village at night.

Lola’s husband Alfio then arrives, singing in celebration of the virtues of his life as a carter and his faith in his wife’s fidelity. Alfio asks Mother Lucia if she has any vintage wine, and Lucia again maintains that Turridu has gone to get more. Alfio replies doubtfully, claiming he has seen Turridu near his house that morning. Lucia appears puzzled, but is quickly hushed by Santuzza; soon after, church bells ring, breaking up the conversation and calling the villagers to Mass.

Santuzza remains outside in the square with Lucia, and reveals that she knows about Turridu’s affair with Lola. Santuzza expresses that she feels both abandoned by Turridu and condemned by God. Mother Lucia heads into the church and prays for Santuzza in pity. Turridu finally appears, and Santuzza seizes the opportunity to confront him. She demands that he admit his infidelity and his love for Lola, but Turridu denies it all and casts her aside. Having spotted Lola heading into the church, Turridu follows her in and leaves Santuzza alone in the town square.

Alfio now arrives, looking for Lola, and finds a furious Santuzza following her encounter with Turridu. In the heat of her rage, Santuzza reveals to Alfio that Turridu and Lola are engaged in an affair. Alfio is predictably enraged, and swears revenge on Turridu, while Santuzza immediately regrets her disclosure, fearing the violence that might ensue.

The villagers congregate at Mother Lucia’s tavern following Mass. Turridu is delighted to have Lola at his side, and leads the merriment with a drinking song. Alfio arrives and greets the villagers. Turridu offers Alfio wine, but Alfio sternly rejects the gesture. The women in the tavern sense impending trouble, and hurry Lola away from the scene. The two men have a tense exchange, and Turridu bites Alfio’s ear, signaling a challenge to a duel. Alfio and Turridu agree to meet outside the village to settle their dispute in a knife fight.

Now alone with his mother, Turridu implores Lucia to take care of Santuzza if he doesn’t survive the duel. He rushes off, leaving Lucia and Santuzza to anxiously await the outcome. A crowd forms, and after noises of violence and confusion, a woman declares that Turridu has been killed.

Michelle Johnson

Santuzza

Adam Diegel

Turiddu

Nina Yoshida Nelsen

Mamma Lucia

Javier Arrey

Alfio

Chelsea Basler

Lola

Victoria L. Awkward

Dancer

Michayla Kelly

Dancer

Marissa Molinar

Dancer

David Angus

Conductor

Giselle Ty

Stage Director

Julia Noulin-Mérat

Designer

Gail Astrid Buckley

Costume Designer

Molly Tiede

Lighting Designer

Ronell Oliveri

Wig-Makeup Designer

Levi Marsman

Choreographer

Leader Bank Pavilion

290 Northern Ave | Boston, MA | 02210

Leader Bank Pavilion

Located on Boston’s iconic waterfront in the Seaport District, Leader Bank Pavilion is an open-air, covered amphitheater providing a state-of-the-art, comfortable live performance experience.

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SEATING
Seating is divided into six sections, as well as additional table seating at the rear of the venue.

Leader Bank Pavilion seating chart for BLO's production of Cavalleria Rusticana, OCT 1 & 3 | 2021

The Mezzanine and Balcony are accessible by stairs in the main lobby; there is no elevator access to these levels.The Mezzanine overhangs the Orchestra after row K.

ACCESSIBILITY
All sections of Leader Bank Pavilion are accessible via flat walkways.

Restrooms are located in the concessions area of the venue.
Guests that require assisted listening devices can contact Leader Bank Pavilion prior to the event to arrange for a device.

Click here for more information on Leader Bank Pavilion’s accessibility support.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Q: I don’t have a smart phone. How can I access my tickets?
A: If you have a cracked screen or are just not using a smart device – no problem. Simply visit the Pavilion box office at the venue upon arrival. Have your ID and order number handy and you will be issued a physical ticket.

Q: Can I bring my normal sized purse? Are there any other restrictions on what I can bring in?
A: The venue requires that any bag is either a small clutch bag (4.5” x 6.5”) or a clear plastic bag no larger than 12” x 6” x 12” with a single compartment. No backpacks are allowed. Small umbrellas, small blankets, one sealed bottle of water, an empty clear water container, and a small clear bag of snacks can all be brought into the venue.

Q: What if it rains?
A: While the Leader Bank Pavilion is an outdoor venue, it does have a large tent covering. All shows will go on rain or shine.

Q: What is the Covid policy for this event?
A: You can read our full policy is at blo.org/health-and-safety.

Q: Where can I park if I am driving to the venue?
A: Parking is available for Leader Bank Pavilion patrons at the Seaport Hotel Garage within a short walk of the Pavilion. The Seaport Hotel Garage can be accessed from Seaport Boulevard. The Seaport Boulevard entrance is at the intersection of Seaport Boulevard and B Street, three blocks before the Leader Bank Pavilion. Additionally, Leader Bank Pavilion has partnered with ParkWhiz to offer other easy and reliable options.

Q: What restaurants are by the pavilion?
A: The Seaport has a reputation for lots of dining options! From Boston Magazine picks to Eater Boston’s Guide to the Seaport, there is something for everyone. Click here for a list of nearby restaurants. These restaurants include:

75 on Liberty Wharf

Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse

Legal Harborside

Temazcal Tequila Cantina

Yankee Lobster

And more!

Q: Can I still subscribe to the BLO 2021-2022 season?
A: Yes! You can use BLOSUB at check out for Cavalleria and we will contact you with more subscription information.

Boston Lyric Opera COVID-19 Policies

Boston Lyric Opera continues to monitor evolving conditions and guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic. The health and safety of our community is our top priority. We have implemented a series of procedures recommended by BLO’s Health Task Force for Opera Artists to ensure that all of our audiences, artists, and staff have a comfortable and enjoyable experience.

For BLO’s October 1 and 3 performances of Cavalleria Rusticana at Leader Bank Pavilion, we are implementing a combination of vaccination, testing, and masking requirements designed to provide a safe and comfortable opera-going experience.

For all patrons attending performances at Leader Bank Pavilion, BLO will require the following:

  • Proof of vaccination or proof of negative COVID test result
    • Patrons must either provide proof of vaccination or a PCR test taken within 72 hours of the performance, or an antigen test taken within the last 24 hours.
    • Proof of vaccination or negative COVID test can be provided by showing a physical copy or photo of your vaccination card or test results.
  • Face Mask Requirements
    • Face Masks are required for all patrons.

If you are a ticket holder and are feeling unwell, please contact boxoffice@blo.org to discuss your ticketing options. BLO is committed to flexibility this season and will provide assistance for patrons who are feeling sick or need to pause their return to the theater.

BLO will continue to monitor conditions and will provide health and safety updates as needed.

“A Slice of Life:” Cavalleria rusticana 
By Cori Ellison

Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana (1890) and Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci (1892), written just two years apart, are the ham and eggs of opera. Each are short operas that have almost always been presented as a double bill, affectionately called ‘Cav/Pag’ by opera professionals, since their first joint performance in Rome in 1893. Cavalleria and Pagliacci have made a natural pair, as both are operas portraying a humble Southern Italian working-class community on a Roman Catholic feast day, and both concern love triangles that turn violent and deadly. Yet it is fascinating to separate these twins now and again. Boston Lyric Opera presented the circus of Pagliacci on its own exactly two years ago, and now, with the Company’s return to live opera following the pandemic, shines the spotlight on Cavalleria rusticana.

In 1889, the young Tuscan composer Pietro Mascagni decided to enter a competition for one-act operas sponsored by the Milanese music publisher Edoardo Sonzogno, open to young Italian composers who had not yet had an opera performed on stage. When Mascagni asked his long-time friend Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti, a poet and professor of literature, to write a libretto for him, Targioni-Tozzetti suggested basing it on “Cavalleria rusticana,” a popular short story by the Sicilian realist author Giovanni Verga. Targioni-Tozzetti enlisted his colleague Guido Menasci to help him. In all, 73 operas were entered in the competition, but in March 1890, Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana was selected as one of the final three.

The premiere of Cavalleria rusticana at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome in May 1890 is the stuff of legend, with Mascagni taking forty curtain calls and capturing First Prize. The opera’s phenomenal popularity began immediately, and it easily remains the best known of Mascagni’s fifteen operas. Striving for a frank, intense, swift, and economical musical language in which to tell this turbulent tale, Mascagni and his librettists gave birth to the short-lived but wildly popular and endlessly influential operatic style called verismo in Italian opera.

Like Hip hop, Gospel, Salsa, Klezmer, Country Western, Beat poetry, Magic realism, Op art, or any musical style or cultural movement, verismo sprang directly from a community and its responses to its social and economic conditions.

Verismo—Italian for “realism”—was a powerful literary, theatrical, and musical genre that expressed the circumstances, passions, and preoccupations of Southern Italians at the turn of the twentieth century. In the Prologue to Pagliacci, Tonio states that the author has sought to portray “uno squarcio di vita,” (“a slice of life”). The immediate influences of verismo lie in naturalisme, or naturalism, a late nineteenth-century literary movement kindled by French novelists Gustave Flaubert and Emile Zola. After centuries of literature revolving around the upper classes, naturalism spotlighted the common people and la vie quotidien. It strove to look at the world with a cold, objective eye, focusing on the dark, harsh, violent side of life, often with the goal of social reform. Naturalist writers tried to realistically portray the current era of political, industrial, and social revolution that caught Europeans off guard and created an atmosphere of uncertainty and alienation, especially among the lower classes.

This French naturalist movement strongly influenced the literature of other nations, especially Italy, where this style was called verismo or realism. Verismo brought new prominence to southern Italy, where masses of artists rose to depict the hardships of life in the Mezzogiorno—the traditional name for the sunny south of Italy, encompassing the southern portion of the familiar boot-shaped Italian Peninsula, including the regions of Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia, and the two large islands of Sicily and Sardinia. One of the major figures of Italian verismo literature was Giovanni Verga, whose short story, “Cavalleria rusticana” (1880) or “Rustic Chivalry,” was purportedly based on an actual event. So great was its impact that the famous Italian actress Eleanora Duse asked Verga to dramatize it so that she could play the female lead. The resulting play, Cavalleria rusticana, was then adapted for the opera stage not only by Mascagni, but also by the Italian composers Stanislao Gastaldon (Mala pasqua!, 1890, premiered a month before Mascagni’s version, at the same theater!) and Domenico Monleone (1907).

Verismo permeated Italian literature, art, theatre, and film from the late nineteenth through the early twentieth century, but perhaps its most lasting embodiment has been in the immensely popular operatic works of Puccini, Giordano, Cilea, and others, whose earthy plots and characters, violent action, swift pace, declamatory vocalism, and colorful and emphatic orchestration still pack opera houses. Though pure verismo was relatively short-lived and soon challenged by the artistic movements that followed, many hallmarks of its style lasted well into the twentieth century, most notably in the films of Italian neorealist directors such as Vittorio di Sica and Roberto Rossellini and, remarkably, in American operas by such composers as Gian Carlo Menotti, Samuel Barber, and Carlisle Floyd.

Cavalleria rusticana and verismo also made their way into American popular culture. In the climactic scene of The Godfather: Part III (1990) a performance of Cavalleria rusticana in Palermo, Sicily, with Michael Corleone’s opera-singer son Anthony as Turiddu, provides an ironic counterpoint to Vincent Corleone’s vengeance against his family’s enemies and an assassination attempt on Michael Corleone. The opera’s symphonic Intermezzo is also heard in the final scene as a backdrop to Michael’s lonely death. A decade earlier, director Martin Scorsese had also used the Intermezzo in the opening of Raging Bull (1980).

It’s not surprising that Cavalleria rusticana, a succinct opera with the tone and impact of a fast-moving popular thriller, still packs theaters today. And the moral questions it leaves in its wake—the dangerous effects and deadly consequences of infidelity and jealousy—will never cease to feel timely.

— Cori Ellison has served as staff dramaturg at New York City Opera, Glyndebourne Opera, and Santa Fe Opera, and is a member of the Vocal Arts faculty at The Juilliard School

The Reviews are In!

BOSTON GLOBE
“Boston Lyric Opera’s ‘Cavalleria rusticana’ is a triumph!”

BOSTON MUSICAL INTELLIGENCER
“It was impossible to tear your eyes (or ears) away from Chelsea Basler’s Lola.  Her magnetic stage presence and broad, open legato approach to the role of the town flirt helped the audience to understand how Turiddu might be torn between two women.”
“Javier Arrey captured the audience with his opening Prologue and brought new depth to his role as a cuckolded husband.”

EDGE Media
“BLO must be credited for persevering during this extended period of uncertainty and treating us to this well-sung ‘Cavalleria Rusticana.'”

Boston Classical Review
“Michelle Johnson was the star of the evening, her beaming soprano finding every nuance of the love-torn Santuzza.”

For press images, please visit
Cavalleria Rusticana Media Kit

Cast Photos

Season artwork created by Myung Hee Cho.