A small village in Sicily, Easter Sunday. A despondent Santuzza searches for Turiddu, the man she loves. Before leaving for the army he was in love with Lola. But Santuzza, despite being married to Alfio, has won back Turiddu’s heart...Elīna Garanča and then Elena Zhidkova will lend their voices to the role of the heart-breaking Santuzza.

In Pietro Mascagni's tragic opera, a soldier returns home from war to reclaim his former fiancée, only to find that she's married someone else in his absence, leading to jealousy, betrayal, and murder.

Franco Zeffirelli directs these two legendary La Scala productions telling tragic tales of jealousy. Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana features performances by Elena Obraztsova, Plácido Domingo, and Renato Bruson. Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci stars Teresa Stratas, Plácido Domingo, and Juan Pons. Both are conducted by George Pretre. This production of Pagliacci earned director Franco Zeffirelli the coveted Emmy as Best Director in the category of Classical Music Programming.

Shirley Verrett, Krjstian Johannson and Ettore Nova lead the cast in a 1990 live performance from the Teatro Comunale dei Rinnvati, Siena, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the opera's world premiere. Sung in Italian with optional English, German & French subtitles.

A staging of the opera by Mascagni.

This film was not based on the famous one-act opera of Pietro Mascagni but rather on the original story by the Sicilian writer Giovanni Verga. It's the story of Santuzza, her love Turiddu, and his passion for the married Lola that leads to his death in a duel when Lola's husband Alfio exacts satisfaction.

Plácido Domingo accomplishes the rare feat of singing both leads on the same night at the Met in 1978 on opera's most popular double-bill.

The remains of the Roman baths at Baia form the unique backdrop to this performance of Mascagni's opera, recorded live in 2007. Zhang Jiemin conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, with performances from Ildikó Komlósi, Sung Kyu Park, Cinzia De Mola and Marco di Felice.

Pietro Mascagni's opera recorded in 2009. Conductor Stefano Ranzani leads the orchestra and chorus of the Zurich Opera House, with performances by Argentinian tenor Jose Cura and soprano Pauletta Marrocu.

Opera's most popular double bill, fondly known as Cav and Pag, conducted by Herbert von Karajan. In 'Cavalleria rusticana', Turiddu returns from military service to find that his fiancée Lola had married the carter Alfio while he was away. In revenge, Turiddu seduces Santuzza, a young woman in the village. In 'Pagliacci', the drama unfolds as Canio (Pagliaccio) struggles with rage, despair, and desire on learning of his wife Nedda's intended infidelity with Silvio. Canio's tragic conflict increasingly mirrors the comedy of Pagliaccio.

Giancarlo del Monaco's acclaimed new production elegantly intertwines Mascagni's and Leoncavallo's well-loved operas, masterpieces which brought new levels of realism into opera through their so-called verismo style.

A deeply moving production of the traditional double-bill Pagliacci and Cavalleria Rusticana is shown here at Milan's Teatro alla Scala.

As comparably short operas, Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci are often billed together, but seldom is the lead tenor making his double role debut as Turiddu and Canio on the same evening. At the 2015 Salzburg Easter Festival, Jonas Kaufmann did just that to rapturous praise. Universally hailed as a coup for Kaufmann, the plaudits were also showered on Philipp Stölzl for his innovative staging which includes live video projections while referencing the era of black-and-white movies.

Plácido Domingo takes on the leading tenor roles in this 1976 live performance at the NHK Hall in Tokyo, Japan.

Director David McVicar’s new production brings opera’s favorite double bill to new life, setting the two operas in the same Sicilian setting, separated by two generations. Marcelo Álvarez takes on the rare feat of singing both leading tenor roles. In Cavalleria, he is Turiddu, the young man who abandons Santuzza (Eva-Maria Westbroek) in his pursuit of the married Lola (Ginger Costa-Jackson)—and ends up being killed in a duel with her husband, Alfio (George Gagnidze). In Pagliacci, Álvarez is Canio, the leader of a traveling vaudeville troupe. Patricia Racette sings Nedda, his unfaithful young wife, whose plans to run away with her lover are foiled by her spurned admirer Tonio (George Gagnidze)—with equally tragic consequences. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi is on the podium.

Damiano Michieletto's production for The Royal Opera updates the works to southern Italy in the late 20th century.

Streamed live on Sunday, February 9, 2020 at 3.30 PM (CET) from Teatro Municipale Valli di Reggio Emilia (Italy). CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA // Music by Pietro Mascagni

Opera in one act

Libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci

adapted from a short story by Giovanni Verga PAGLIACCI // Music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo

Opera in a prologue and two acts