Leoncavallo: Pagliacci - Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana

These two pinnacles of Italian opera, Pagliacci and Cavalleria rusticana have it all – love, infidelity, betrayal, jealousy and murder. Both are classic examples of verismo operas that dramatize the lives of ordinary people: Pagliacci fuelled by the tension between everyday life and the aesthetic world of the stage, Cavalleria rusticana juxtaposing unbridled passion with profound faith.