Mascagni- Cavalleria Rusticana (Full Score)

Composed before March 1890.
Turiddu: Placido Domingo
Santuzza: Agnes Baltsa
Alfio: Juan Pons
Mamma Lucia: Vera Baniewicz
Lola: Susanne Mentzer
Giuseppe Sinopoli, Philharmonia Orchestra, Chorus of the Royal Opera House, 1990. I do not own this recording.
Mascagni is one of the few composers to achieve STUPENDOUS success with practically their very first work. It was this opera, the dramatic and moving portrait of Sicily, that would make the verismo movement known outside of esoteric Italian dramatic circles and throughout the world.
It was created for the second Sonzogno Concorso of 1888. This contest, created by music publisher (and small rival of the illustrious Ricordi publishing firm) Edoardo Sonzogno, would see various Italian composers submit one-act operas to a panel consisting of critics and musicians. The top three submissions would be staged at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome, away from the interference of Ricordi.
By 1889, the deadline year for operatic submissions, it had become clear that Niccolo Spinelli's "Labilia" and Vincenzo Ferroni's "Rudello" were the two favorites of the panelists. These two short operas have swiftly been forgotten. Cavalleria was admired by the jury, but it was nevertheless also criticized by some members as being "supremely banal". After some deliberation, Cavalleria and the other two operas were presented in July 1890.
On 9 May, Labilia earned modest admiration from a small audience. Less than a week later, Cavalleria was presented by the same cast to an even smaller house. It was a complete artistic triumph, much to the bafflement of Mascagni himself. The intense public reaction made the Sonzogno jury reluctantly declare Mascagni the first-prize winner of the contest, while also making Ferroni's "Rudello" be received only with hostility and hisses.
What I find most unique about the score itself is its transfer of the "dramatic" Verismo to the musical. Cavalleria Rusticana, while having a gripping libretto, is not known for its characters or dialogue. It is the Sicilian environment, how Mascagni illustrates and punctuates it, that sets it apart from everything else. Parts of this opera take extraordinary care to immerse the audience in the setting: the prelude, the intermezzo, and the beginning chorus are only some examples. This is Mascagni's version of a playwright endlessly describing each and every detail of a scene in their play, much like the Italian playwrights did during the Verismo movement. For such a short opera, it is difficult to find another that contains this level of care and detail in its portrayals.
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[@simonkawasaki4229]

57:05

[@brunocoliveira89]

[@Dylonely42]

Intermezzo

[@robb6560]

Cavalleria Rusticana (Timestamps) 0:00 Preludio e Siciliana (Turiddu, a sipario calato) INIZIO ATTO UNICO (7:59) La scena rappresenta una piazza in un paese della Sicilia. Nel fondo, a destra, si trova una chiesa con porta praticabile. A sinistra invece è presente l'osteria e la casa di Mamma Lucia (madre di Turiddu). E' il giorno di Pasqua. 7:59 Coro d'introduzione (Gli Aranci Olezzano) 15:48 Scena I (Santuzza e Lucia) e 21:20 Sortita (di Alfio con Coro) detta anche "Il Cavallo Scalpita" 24:03 Scena II (Santuzza e Alfio) e 24:37 Preghiera (Coro Interno alla Chiesa e Corso Esterno sulla Piazza e Organo della Chiesa) divisa in "Regina Cœli" e "Inneggiamo al Signor" 32:24 Romanza (Santuzza) detta anche "Voi lo sapete, o mamma" e Scena III (Santuzza e Lucia) 38:32 Scena IV (Santuzza e Turiddu) e 42:01 Stornello (Lola) e 45:26 Duetto I (Santuzza e Turiddu) e 51:21 Duetto II (Santuzza ed Alfio) 57:05 Intermezzo Sinfonico 1:01:21 Scena V (Lola e Turiddu), Coro e 1:04:00 Brindisi (Turiddu e Coro) 1:06:51 FINALE 1:16:45 I putted this another stamp because it's the last beautiful theme of hope that we will hear until the imminent end. Nota Finale: Tutta quest'opera è un continuo susseguirsi di temi bellissimi e che considero dei capolavori eterni della musica tardo romantica, non è solo bello l'intermezzo ma TUTTA l'opera dall'inizio alla fine ti lascia senza fiato, rimarrò per sempre grato a Mascagni per averci donato questa musica straordinaria... Grazie mille per aver pubblicato l'opera intera con lo spartito!!! THANK YOU VERY MUCH SIMON KAWASAKI

[@jolantadrogos306]

I've been obsessed with it since my childhood, it's almost 50 years. The only opera I listen to every day, Preludio and Intermezzo even several times a day. I just adore Cavalleria, I've watched it in Milano, Livorno or Palermo live. It's absolutely brilliant. Viva Mascagni! ❤

[@annacianciaruso1374]

È vero,che vale la pena ascoltarla perché è bellissima,ascoltavo solo l’Intermezzo di solito ,ho visto in passato. Altre Opere,ma non ricordo di aver visto questa,e’magnifica la musica,l’ascoltero più spesso.🎼👍🌈

[@Dylonely42]

This is a wonderful opera that is worth to be listened in live.

[@ABCCHILE]

La escuché con mi hermano en casa, por primera vez cuando yo tenía 6 años. Hoy tengo 82. M gustó desde el principio. Con su primer sueldo el la compró. Venía en un estuche de cartón y con un libreto en italiano y castellano. Después siguió con muchas mas.

[@rosernabona9364]

Excellent , Mascagni , Cavalleria rusticana ❤

[@Flougartik52419]

Bravo pour la présentation de la partition musicale , un gros travail, dans une langue universelle si peu partagée ... Et qui est la seule qui met en accord le monde.

[@remomazzetti8757]

The original version of Cavelleria was never performed or published in Mascagni's lifetime. During the rehearsals, the conductor and singers demanded cuts and transposition. 247 measures were cut, mostly from the choruses. And 3 pieces were transposed : the prayer, originally in A, was lowered to G major,; Santuzza's aria was lowered from F to E; and the final section of the duet for Turridu and Santuzza was lowered from A to A flat. The original (which I think is infinitely greater than the published version ), has finally been performed and recorded by Thomas Hengelbrock with the Balthasar Neumann Orchestra and available on KZbin.

[@simonkawasaki4229]

Thanks for the great info! I remember reading briefly about some alterations and cuts to the score, apparently supervised by the conductor Mugnone who thought he knew better than Mascagni. The nerve!!! I will eagerly listen to the recording you mentioned. Thanks again!

[@rosernabona9364]

Mascangi , Cavalleria rusticani , is beautiful ❤

[@thinkOfMeAsAClassicalMusician]

What??? Amazing prelude!! Beautiful!

[@farmertice7064]

I try listening to this magnificent opera, but I have to give up because all I'm getting i our commercials.

[@simonkawasaki4229]

I have no control of that. I apologize.

[@alfre3t]

Such a great work of yours! Thanks.

[@zamyrabyrd]

Wow, what a treat to be able to follow with the score! Thanks so much!

[@davidwon6077]

Awesome. Appreciate your effort!!!

[@tommytwogloves16]

Wonderful .

[@Dylonely42]

Indeed.

[@gijose83]

what a voice

[@mrlopez-pz7pu]

From the standpoint of melody, so much of Cavaleria Rusticana is built on the Venusberg scene of Wagner's Tannhäuser. For example, Mascagni's famous intermezzo has melodic links that are heard from the choir of sirens in the Venusberg scene, while the Easter chorus has similarities to Wagner's Pilgrim's Chorus, especially regarding orchestration. Even the libretto of Cavalleria Rusticana is strongly catholic, just as Tannhäuser's libretto is.

[@pazzoredento2191]

The plot is incomprehensible but the music... the music! The moral of the story may be summarised thus: don't fuck around or you will be stabbed.

[@mrlopez-pz7pu]

If the plot is so incomprehensible to you, how were you able to discern any moral(s) in the story, much less a moral as specific as "...don't fuck around or you will be stabbed."? I doubt that you have ever seen the complete "Cavalleria Rusticana" live or on film. The opera's plot/libretto is hardly incomprehensible, something made even easier by the opera being 1 act--2 scenes and being about an hour and a half.

[@manolis.799]

How is it incomprehensible? Turiddu scorns Santuzza and her jealousy gets him killed. That’s it.

[@user-db8dy6xi9o]

24:00

[@user-fk4fn3vn3f]

25:04 38:31

[@laurafrei1327]

8:06

[@clancydrew1015]

1:01:21

[@laccaa9621]

10:40

[@MrBrandenBurn]

26:06

[@TheBeverly7]

Ravishing. ❤

[@emanuelebattaglia3790]

29:38

[@Tchaicoffee]

1.02.46

[@Tchaicoffee]

20.24

[@mrpablox127]

Domingo? 😞 (But Thanks for your Job, man, like always)

[@bibobabu8756]

Never really understood why this opera is so famous... It just seems so consciously composed

[@Dylonely42]

What do you mean by "consciously" ?

[@bibobabu8756]

@@Dylonely42 Difficult to answer... It's like composing at the piano but in a way where you just consciously use the knowledge you have about for example melody writing (General motion, Form, interesting figurations etc) to write a new melody. There's nothing wrong about that approach but people like Brahms, Puccini or Wagner did it differently and I think you can certainly feel the difference.

[@Dylonely42]

@@bibobabu8756 I didn’t understand… you might mean that he could compose more or better melodies ? It’s actually an unusual short opera so that may be why it bothers you. Consciously means that you’re aware of what you are doing, and every composers do in this way so that is why I can’t get what you are trying to explain here.

[@bibobabu8756]

@@Dylonely42 Nonono, I mean consciousness in a negative sense here. Great melodies are rarely invented by arranging melodic figurations until you get something good, because that would be composing using only the conscious mind. When you listen to "Che Gelida manina", do you think those melodies were invented note for note? To compose melodies such as those of Puccini or Beethoven you need a different approach. This different approach is usually just called inspiration but let me give you a quote by Puccini about how he composed: "The great secret of all creative geniuses is that they possess that power to appropriate the beauty, the wealth, the grandeur and the sublimity contained within their own souls, which are part of Omnipotence, and to communicate those riches to others."

[@Dylonely42]

@@bibobabu8756 Ok, thank you for your comments.

[@johnthorpe1964]

Sounds very Wagnerian for an Italian composer

[@losscores]

verismo is an italian way to express wagnerian style

[@Donello]

Leitmotifs? Well' nothing wrong with them, but structurally this is actually a very old-fashioned opera with closed numbers, the only true originalities being the prelude with the siciliana and the intermezzo, intermezzi being fashionable at that time.

[@mrlopez-pz7pu]

Thank you....sometimes I think I'm the only one who notices. The intermezzo and Easter procession is so clearly grown out of Wagner's Venusberg, the choir of Sirens, etc.

[@lizardking1979]

@@losscores yes, Mascagni, Leoncavallo and particularly Puccini are influenced by Wagner

[@FriendlyCroock]

@@lizardking1979 You mean "Verismo" ? Which is literally the greatest period of italian opera and I don't think it has anything to do with Wagner. For me italian opera (arguably the finest opera) starts with Verdi's "La Traviata" and ends with Pietro Mascagni, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Umberto Giordano and Giacomo Puccini. Everything before that like Donizetti, Bellini, Rossini including a great deal of Verdi operas is ok but nothing special. It's no different from a Mozart or a Gluck opera. Verismo operas however are unique to Italy.

[@janisauzins4103]

It could do with a bit less of the hyperemotional group screaming.

[@FueganTV]

The chromatic circus that ends the opera really does spoil the listening experience for me. It borders on bad taste. Sweeping and emotive music otherwise.

[@simonkawasaki4229]

I can’t help but agree.

[@Donello]

The "chromatic circus" is the same that concludes the Santuzza-Alfio duet, where his las words are "Vendetta avrò pria che tramonti il dì" ("I'll have my revenge before the sun sets"). Since Mascagni uses leitmotifs a lot, sometimes subtly, sometimes not, it's only logical to have this music here.

[@ryankennedy3109]

Even the best opera has its bad 30 seconds, pity that it comes right at the end in this one! Usually it's buried in a recitativo somewhere.

[@mrlopez-pz7pu]

@FueganTV - the "chromatic circus" in the final moments of the opera spoils your listening experience?!? You think "it borders on bad taste"? It would seem that the only case of bad taste is your own.

[@user-rt1oo4si2d]

46:12

[@AndewMole]

32:23

[@alisaaaboom4525]

58:36

[@Dylonely42]

27:22

[@Dylonely42]

27:42