‘Cavalleria rusticana’ and ‘Pagliacci’, Verismo at Liceu

Verismo marked the end of the great period of romantic art in Italy. This school of opera burst on to the scene towards the end of the 19th Century, and some of its best-known works are Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci. Now in December, we’ve got the chance to see them both as a double bill - as has been the tradition since 1903 - at the Gran Teatre del Liceu since the acclaimed Royal Opera House production will reach our city with Damiano Michieletto on stage direction and Henrik Nánási as the musical director. The information provided by the Liceu defines this duo as an “opera bill par excellence”, with two faces of Verismo that constantly make nods to one another, such as character swapping and similar visual resources.

Michieletto has set the operas in mid-20th Century Italy. Cavalleria rusticana is a one-act opera with music by Pietro Mascagni and libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, while Pagliacci is split into two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. They came out in 1891 and 1892 respectively, and they were last performed at the Liceu in 2011. Apart from getting the chance to see the two masterpieces of Verismo, those who come along to some of the scheduled performances will also be lucky enough to see tenors Roberto Alagna and Marcelo Álvarez and soprano Aleksandra Kurzak on the Liceu stage. As always, forty-five minutes before the performance begins, there will be a basic information session and a plot summary in the Foyer. 

For more details, please see this link.