‘Cavalleria Rusticana’ & ‘Pagliacci’ is opera’s most popular double bill

Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci is a double-bill opera of Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci.

Cavalleria Rusticana was a successful opera of 1890. Leoncavallo wrote Pagliacci in response to it in 1892.

Cavalleria Rusticana

Cavalleria Rusticana (cavalier chivalry) is a one-act verismo Italian opera written by Pietro Mascagni (Italian, 1863 – 1945). Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido  Menasci wrote the libretto based on a short story and play by Giovanni Verga.

It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome in 1890. The Metropolitan Opera premiered it on tour in 1891. The Met established the Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci double-bill in 1893.

Setting

A small town in the toe of the boot of Italy.

Characters

Santuzza

Turiddu

Alfio

Pagliacci

Pagliacci (clown) is a one-act verismo Italian opera with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo (Italian, 1857 – 1919). He based the story on a childhood experience.

It premiered at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan, Italy in 1892. The Metropolitan Opera premiered the Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci double-bill in 1893.

Pagliacci channels Commedia dell’arte, the slapstick form of Italian theatrical comedy (think Punch & Judy). Commedia dell’arte is one of the theatrical forms that culminates in Broadway.

Setting

The same small town in the toe of the boot of Italy.

Characters

Canio, head of the troupe

Nedda

Tonio

Silvio

Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci 2017 – 2018

The Metropolitan Opera performs the Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci double-bill seven times between January 8 and February 1, 2018.

January 2018

Monday, January 8 at 7:30 pm
Saturday, January 13 at 12:30 pm

Wednesday, January 17 at 8 pm
Saturday, January 20 at 1 pm

Thursday, January 25 at 8 pm

Monday, January 29 at 7:30 pm

February 2018

Thursday, February 1 at 8 pm

Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci Tickets

Tickets start at $25

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