Pagliacci / Cavalleria Rusticana at the Státní opera Praha

State Opera ChorusState Opera OrchestraNational Theatre Opera Ballet Pupils of the Olga Kyndlová Ballet School

When, in 1888, the music publisher Edoardo Sonzogno announced a competition for young Italian composers, who were invited to submit a one-act opera, he had not the slightest inkling that the victorious piece would become a timeless blockbuster. The 25-year-old Pietro Mascagni sent Cavalleria rusticana, which he had just completed. The premiere, in 1890 in Rome, was a true sensation, and the verismo opera, depicting ordinary contemporary people, villagers and low social classes, would remain Mascagni’s greatest success. Ruggero Leoncavallo decided to follow suit and duly composed his very first opera, Pagliacci, in the verismo style. Premiered in 1892 in Milan, the piece met with an enthusiastic response. In 1893, the two operas were first staged as a double bill, and ever since they have been frequently performed together.

Pagliacci tells the tale of Canio, an actor who kills his attractive…