Pietro Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana

Soloists:

Ildiko Komlosi, Sung Kyu Park, Marco di Felice

Orchestra, choir:

Orchestra e Coro del Teatro di San Carlo

Conductor:

Zhang Jiemin

Director:

Maurizio Scaparro



After the sensational success of his one-act opera Cavalleria rusticana at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on May 17, 1890, Mascagni did everything he could to ensure that his star continued to rise. But neither his Cavalleria remake Silvano (1895) nor his romantic reworking of the Lady Godiva legend, Isabeau, have survived the test of time. This Cavalleria rusticana has left the traditional opera house far behind and is performed in an open-air theater that was once used by Emperor Nero. This is the legendary Roman baths at the port of Baia near Naples, which was the most famous resort of antiquity and synonymous with luxury and debauchery. Although some of the baths have disappeared over the last two millennia, the remains form a unique backdrop with their high walls and galleries suspended between heaven and earth. This World Heritage Site was the venue for a performance of Cavalleria rusticana during a visit by the San Carlo Theater of Naples in the summer of 2007.