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62-678: The first opera company in Bulgaria was founded in 1890 as part of the Capital Opera and Drama Company. The two sections split in 1891 to form the Salza i Smyah theatrical company and the Capital Bulgarian Opera. It was, however, disbanded the next year due to lack of government funding and financial difficulties. The Bulgarian Opera Society was established in 1908 and staged its first test performance. The first full opera

124-571: A 1982 television airing , which has since been released on DVD. The movie's soundtrack received a Grammy nomination for Best Opera Recording. Pagliacci was also recorded in English in 1997, and released commercially in 1998, for the Chandos "Opera in English" label with Dennis O'Neill as Canio, Alan Opie as Tonio, and Rosa Mannion as Nedda. In 1991, Kent State University student Michael Mould began translating Pagliacci into English for

186-466: A comics adaptation, but died on USAir Flight 405 before he could complete it. Marc Andreyko finished Mould's translation as The Clowns , a one-shot written by P. Craig Russell and illustrated by Galen Showman. Published in 1998 by Dark Horse Comics , The Clowns is dedicated in memory of Mould. Cavalleria rusticana Cavalleria rusticana ( pronounced [kavalleˈriːa rustiˈkaːna] ; Italian for 'Rustic Chivalry ')

248-403: A double bill with Rachmaninoff's Aleko . During the orchestral introduction, Tonio, dressed as his commedia dell'arte character Taddeo, pokes his head through the curtain, advances, and addresses the audience. ("Si può?... Si può?... Signore! Signori! ... Un nido di memorie"). He reminds the audience that actors have feelings too, and that the show is about real people. Tonio returns behind

310-416: A few verses at a time on the back of a postcard. As Mascagni believed that the work was hastily written and not reflective of his best efforts, his courage deserted him and he placed the draft in a drawer, from where his wife, Argenide Marcellina "Lina" Mascagni, removed it and submitted it on the last day that entries would be accepted. In all, 73 operas were submitted, and on 5 March 1890, the judges selected

372-475: A judge, presided as magistrate over the criminal investigation. Leoncavallo originally titled his story Il pagliaccio ( The Clown ). The baritone Victor Maurel, who was cast as the first Tonio, requested that Leoncavallo change the title from the singular Il pagliaccio to the plural I Pagliacci , to broaden dramatic interest from Canio alone to include Tonio (his own role). The French author Catulle Mendès sued Leoncavallo for plagiarism after learning of

434-441: A national one in 1922 and changed its name to National Opera . A ballet company was established and gave its first performance in 1928. The opera ceased its activity for a while after the 1944 bombing of Sofia , but was restored shortly afterward with a significant increase of government funding. The National Opera and Ballet's building was designed in 1921 and built for the most part between 1947 and its opening in 1953. In 2000,

496-605: A pairing referred to in the operatic world colloquially as "Cav and Pag". The Belgian premiere (in a French translation) took place on 14 February 1895 ( St. Valentine's day ) at the Theatre de la Monnaie , Brussels, with Cecile Simonnet as Nedda, conducted by Philippe Flon . Pagliacci was produced alone in Washington National Opera 's November 1997 production by Franco Zeffirelli . The re-organised New York City Opera presented Pagliacci in 2016 on

558-626: A prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo . The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who murders his wife Nedda and her lover Silvio on stage during a performance. Pagliacci premiered at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan on 21 May 1892, conducted by Arturo Toscanini , with Adelina Stehle as Nedda, Fiorello Giraud as Canio, Victor Maurel as Tonio, and Mario Ancona as Silvio. Soon after its Italian premiere,

620-632: A success from its opening notes. Following Stagno's rendition of the Siciliana behind the curtain, the audience leapt to their feet with a thunderous applause not heard for many years. The Siciliana was encored as were several other numbers in the opera. It was a sensation, with Mascagni taking 40 curtain calls and winning the First Prize. Although Mascagni had started writing two other operas earlier ( Pinotta , premiered in 1932, and Guglielmo Ratcliff , premiered in 1895), Cavalleria rusticana

682-419: A villager asks if Canio really suspects her. He says no, and sweetly kisses her on the forehead. As the church bells ring vespers , he and Beppe leave for the tavern, leaving Nedda alone. Nedda is frightened by Canio's vehemence ("Qual fiamma avea nel guardo"), but the birdsong comforts her ("Stridono lassù"). Tonio returns and confesses his love for her, but she laughs. Enraged, Tonio grabs Nedda, but she takes

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744-419: A warning to Silvio, and the crowd cheers as the play begins. Colombina's husband Pagliaccio has gone away until morning, and Taddeo is at the market. Alone, she anxiously awaits her lover Arlecchino , who comes to serenade her (" O Colombina ") from beneath her window. Taddeo returns and confesses his love, but she mocks him. She lets Arlecchino in through the window. He boxes Taddeo's ears and kicks him out of

806-537: A whip, strikes him and drives him off. Silvio, who is Nedda's lover, comes from the tavern, where he has left Canio and Beppe drinking. He asks Nedda to elope with him after the performance and, though she is afraid, she agrees. Tonio, who has been eavesdropping, leaves to inform Canio so that he might catch Silvio and Nedda together. Canio and Tonio return and, as Silvio escapes, Nedda calls after him, "I will always be yours!" Canio chases Silvio, but does not catch him and does not see his face. He demands that Nedda tell him

868-525: A year, in addition to concert programs. Gradually, the basic repertory of world opera classics was established at the same time as the theatre began to attract Bulgarian composers who created new national works. 20th Century performers such as Nicolai Ghiaurov , Nicola Ghiuselev , and Ghena Dimitrova began their careers within the structure of the National Opera, as did later singers such as Irena Petkova and Kiril Manolov . The institution became

930-583: Is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci , adapted from an 1880 short story of the same name and subsequent play by Giovanni Verga . Considered one of the classic verismo operas, it premiered on 17 May 1890 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. Since 1893 , it has often been performed in a so-called Cav/Pag double-bill with Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo . In July 1888

992-664: Is an onstage violin, oboe, trumpet, and bass drum . In 1907, Pagliacci was the first opera to be recorded in its entirety, with the Puerto Rican tenor Antonio Paoli as Canio and under Leoncavallo's personal supervision. In 1931, it became the first complete opera to be filmed with sound, in a now-obscure version starring the tenor Fernando Bertini as Canio, in his only film, with the San Carlo Opera Company . Franco Zeffirelli directed his 1981 La Scala production with Plácido Domingo and Teresa Stratas for

1054-732: Is in the air. The women leave, taking Lola with them. In a brief exchange of words, Alfio challenges Turiddu to a duel. Following Sicilian custom, the two men embrace, and Turiddu, in a token of acceptance, bites Alfio's ear, drawing blood which signifies a fight to the death. Alfio leaves and Turiddu calls Lucia back. He tells her that he is going outside to get some air and asks that she be a kindly mother to Santuzza if he should not return: "Un bacio, mamma! Un altro bacio!—Addio!" ("One kiss, mother! One more kiss! – Farewell!"). Turiddu rushes out. Lucia, weeping, wanders aimlessly around outside her house. Santuzza approaches and throws her arms around her. The villagers start to crowd around. Voices are heard in

1116-412: Is real. Nedda, trying to continue the play, admits that she has been visited by the innocent "Arlecchino". Canio, furious and forgetting the play, demands the name of her lover. Nedda swears she will never tell him, and it becomes apparent that they are not acting. Side-stage, Beppe asks Tonio to intervene, but Tonio refrains and prevents Beppe from halting the action. Silvio begins to fight his way toward

1178-634: Is unaware of the behind-the-scenes manipulations and surrenders control of his perception of the difference between life and art as the opera proceeds. In the present day, the assignment of the final line to Canio has continued to be standard. Several exceptions, where Tonio delivers the final line, include: The orchestra consists of 2 flutes , 1 piccolo , 2 oboes , 1 cor anglais , 2 clarinets , 1 bass clarinet , 3 bassoons , 4 horns , 3 trumpets , 3 trombones , 1 tuba , 2 harps , timpani , tubular bells , percussion (triangle, cymbals, bass drum, glockenspiel, and tam-tam ) and strings. Additionally, there

1240-444: The dramaturgy of the opera in the context of assignment of the final line, and concluded that the original assignment of the final line to Tonio is the most consistent and appropriate assignment. Wright says that Tonio shows more deliberate control in his manipulation of the other characters in order to obtain his revenge upon Nedda, after she has rejected him, and is more aware of the demarcation between life and art. By contrast, Canio

1302-430: The verismo style. Leoncavallo based the story of Pagliacci on an incident from his childhood: the 1865 murder of a Leoncavallo family servant, Gaetano Scavello, killed by Gaetano D'Alessandro, with brother Luigi acting as accomplice. The incident stemmed from a series of perceived romantic entanglements involving Scavello, Luigi D'Alessandro, and a village girl with whom both men were infatuated. Leoncavallo's father,

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1364-462: The 50th anniversary of the opera's premiere. The performance by the La Scala orchestra and chorus with Lina Bruna Rasa as Santuzza and Beniamino Gigli as Turiddu also has a spoken introduction by Mascagni. Originally released as on 78rpm discs, then an LP, it is available on CD under several historical recording labels. A double-bill performance of Cavalleria and Pagliacci was transmitted as

1426-769: The Intermezzo from Cavalleria rusticana in the United States was as the theme for a regular radio broadcast, Symphony of the Rockies, which featured "a small string group playing light classical music" in the 1930s and 1940s over Denver radio station KOA , then owned and operated by the NBC network. It "was a 'feed' to the entire network from the KOA studios." Apart from video recordings of live performances, there have been several cinematic versions of Cavalleria rusticana ,

1488-800: The Lenox Lyceum, directed by Oscar Hammerstein . The opera received its first performance at the Metropolitan Opera on 30 December 1891 in a double bill with a fragment of Gluck 's Orfeo ed Euridice , and has since received over 700 performances there. The opera was played during the 1920s in African-American theaters in Chicago. For example, the Vendome, featuring the orchestra of Erskine Tate , played music from this opera. Notably, Louis Armstrong performed and memorized

1550-461: The Milanese music publisher Edoardo Sonzogno announced a competition open to all young Italian composers who had not yet had an opera performed on stage. They were invited to submit a one-act opera which would be judged by a jury of five prominent Italian critics and composers. The best three would be staged in Rome at Sonzogno's expense. Mascagni heard about the competition only two months before

1612-777: The Teatro Costanzi, where it premiered on 9 April 1890. In the 1907 Sonzogno competition, Domenico Monleone submitted an opera based on the story, and likewise called Cavalleria rusticana . The opera was not successful in the competition but premiered later that year in Amsterdam and went on to a successful tour throughout Europe, ending in Turin. Sonzogno, wishing to protect the lucrative property which Mascagni's version had become, took legal action and successfully had Monleone's opera banned from performance in Italy. Monleone changed

1674-480: The affair and begs Alfio to stop, but to no avail. The square is empty as the orchestra plays the famous Intermezzo . The villagers come out of the church. Turiddu is in high spirits because he is with Lola, and Santuzza appears to have gone. He invites his friends to his mother's wine shop where he sings a drinking song, "Viva, il vino spumeggiante" ("Hail to the bubbling wine!"). Alfio joins them. Turiddu offers him wine, but he refuses it. All understand that trouble

1736-409: The cart, Tonio offers his hand, but Canio pushes him aside and helps her down himself. The villagers suggest drinking at the tavern. Canio and Beppe accept, but Tonio stays behind. The villagers tease Canio that Tonio is planning an affair with Nedda. Canio warns everyone that while he may act the foolish husband in the play, in real life he will not tolerate other men making advances to Nedda. Shocked,

1798-568: The church is heard singing the " Regina coeli ." Outside, the villagers sing an Easter Hymn, "Inneggiamo, il Signor non è morto" ("Let us sing hymns, the Lord is not dead," or "We rejoice that our Saviour is living!" in the English version) joined by Santuzza. The villagers enter the church, while Santuzza and Lucia remain outside. Lucia asks Santuzza why she signalled her to remain silent when Alfio said that he had seen Turiddu that morning. Santuzza exclaims, "Voi lo sapete" ("You well know") and tells Lucia

1860-559: The closing date and asked his friend Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti, a poet and professor of literature at the Italian Royal Naval Academy in Livorno , to provide a libretto. Targioni-Tozzetti chose Cavalleria rusticana , a popular short story (and play) by Giovanni Verga , as the basis for the opera. He and his colleague Guido Menasci set about composing the libretto, sending it to Mascagni in fragments, sometimes only

1922-615: The company co-organized the Boris Christoff Twelfth International Competition for Young Opera Singers with the idea of attracting a younger audience and supporting young and upcoming singers. The repertoire historically tended to favour the Italian and French repertoire with little Wagnerian tradition, although since 2010, the artistic director of the opera company Plamen Kartaloff began a Ring Cycle with entirely Bulgarian casts. Following

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1984-509: The composer gave his consent to the interpolation remarking that it was very effective, but that he would not add it to the score as he did not wish to force the note upon voices it did not suit." Pagliacci received mixed critical reviews after its world premiere, but was instantly successful with the public and has remained so ever since. The UK premiere of Pagliacci took place at the Royal Opera House , Covent Garden, under

2046-399: The curtain, which then rises for the main action. At three o'clock in the afternoon, the commedia troupe enters the village to the cheering of the villagers. Canio describes the night's performance: the troubles of Pagliaccio. He says the play will begin at ventitré ore , an agricultural method of time-keeping that means the play will begin an hour before sunset. As Nedda steps down from

2108-538: The distance and a woman cries, "They have murdered Turiddu!" Santuzza faints and Lucia collapses in the arms of the women villagers. Mascagni calls for a standard-sized orchestra consisting of 2 flutes , 2 piccolos , 2 oboes , 2 clarinets , 2 bassoons , 4 horns , 2 trumpets , 3 trombones , tuba , timpani , percussion ( triangle , cymbals , bass drum , side drum , tamtam , tubular bells ), 2 harps , organ and strings . There have been over 100 full-length recordings of Cavalleria rusticana published since it

2170-452: The entry of Parsifal and Tristan und Isolde into the repertoire, the complete cycle was performed both in Moscow and Sofia during 2018. 42°41′51″N 23°19′50″E  /  42.6975°N 23.3305°E  / 42.6975; 23.3305 Pagliacci Pagliacci ( Italian pronunciation: [paʎˈʎattʃi] ; literal translation, 'Clowns') is an Italian opera in

2232-407: The final three: Niccola Spinelli 's Labilia , Vincenzo Ferroni  [ it ] 's Rudello , and Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana . There have been two other operas based on Verga's story. The first, Mala Pasqua! (Bad Easter!) by Stanislao Gastaldon , was entered in the same competition as Mascagni's. However, Gastaldon withdrew it when he received an opportunity to have it performed at

2294-657: The first broadcast by New York City's Metropolitan Opera on 11 December 1910. Radio pioneer Lee de Forest talked Giulio Gatti-Casazza , the Met manager, into sending the program over the airwaves by using a backstage radio transmitter and a rooftop antenna, "using a long fishing pole for his mast." Enrico Caruso and Emmy Destinn were in the leading roles. Few listened. There were no radios. But public receivers had been set up in several well-advertised locations in New York City, and people could catch at least an inkling of

2356-612: The first to present the opera in that country. Cavalleria rusticana finally had its American premiere in Philadelphia at the Grand Opera House on 9 September 1891, followed by a performance in Chicago on 30 September 1891. The opera premiered in New York City on 1 October 1891, with two rival performances on the same day: an afternoon performance at the Casino, directed by Rudolph Aronson , and an evening performance at

2418-554: The green edges," rendered as "The air is sweet with orange blossoms" in the English libretto) and a hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary . Some villagers enter the church, and others wander off still singing. Santuzza, having slept with Turiddu and suspecting that he has betrayed her for Lola, is distraught and approaches Lucia as she comes out of her house. Santuzza asks for Turiddu, but Lucia replies that he has gone to another town to fetch some wine. Santuzza tells her that he

2480-667: The management of Sir Augustus Harris in London on 19 May 1893, supervised by the composer. Nellie Melba sang Nedda, with Fernando de Lucia as Canio and Mario Ancona as Tonio, M. Bonnard (Beppe) and Richard Green (Silvio). The conductor was Luigi Mancinelli . The US premiere followed a month later at the Grand Opera House in New York on 15 June, conducted by Gustav Hinrichs , with Selma Kronold (Nedda), American tenor Agostino Montegriffo (Canio), and Giuseppe Campanari (Tonio). The 'old' Metropolitan Opera House first staged

2542-470: The most notable of which are: Costumed excerpts from the opera are performed in Mario Lanza 's popular films The Great Caruso (1951) and Because You're Mine (1952). The opera's symphonic Intermezzo has figured in the soundtrack of several films, most notably in the opening and closing credits of Raging Bull and in the finale of The Godfather Part III , which also featured a performance of

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2604-634: The most striking features of the opera when I brought it out at the Dal Verme, Milan, just a year ago." Towards the end of the prologue, singers often interpolate a high A♭ and a high G, although these do not appear in the original full score. In an Australian newspaper article in December 1893, the baritone Guigliemo Caruson, who had already sung the part in Genoa earlier that year said that "whilst rehearsing under Signor Leoncavallo's immediate direction,

2666-525: The music on earphones. The next day, The New York Times reported that static and other interference "kept the homeless song waves from finding themselves." In Los Angeles, an "Italian Night" concert was heard live "in its entirety" on May 6, 1930, as the third program of the Adohr opera series over radio station KFI , featuring "A distinguished cast ... headed by Lisa Roma , noted lyric soprano ... Music lovers should not fail to tune in." A notable use of

2728-429: The name of her lover, but she refuses. He threatens her with a knife, but Beppe disarms him. Beppe insists that they prepare for the performance. Tonio tells Canio that her lover will give himself away at the play. A heartbroken Canio is left alone to put on his costume and prepare to laugh (" Vesti la giubba " – "Put on the costume"). As the crowd arrives, Nedda, costumed as Colombina , collects their money. She whispers

2790-533: The opera had been performed more than 14,000 times in Italy alone. In 1890, following its run of sold-out performances at the Teatro Costanzi, the opera was produced throughout Italy and in Berlin. It received its London premiere at the Shaftesbury Theatre on 19 October 1891 and its Covent Garden premiere on 16 May 1892. American producers vied with each other (sometimes through the courts) to be

2852-575: The opera played in London (with Nellie Melba as Nedda) and in New York (on 15 June 1893, with Agostino Montegriffo as Canio). Pagliacci is the best-known of Leoncavallo's ten operas and remains a staple of the repertoire. Pagliacci is often staged with Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni , a double bill known colloquially as "Cav/Pag". Leoncavallo was a little-known composer when Pietro Mascagni 's Cavalleria rusticana premiered around 1890. After seeing Mascagni's success, Leoncavallo decided to write an opera in response: one act composed in

2914-402: The opera ‘beyond recognition’, setting the music to a new libretto. In this form it was presented as La giostra dei falchi in 1914. Cavalleria rusticana opened on the evening of 17 May 1890 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome to a half empty house. However, the audience included not only the most authoritative music critics in the country but also Queen Margherita , a great music lover. It was

2976-478: The play, but loses control and demands to know her lover's name. Nedda, hoping to keep to the performance, calls Canio by his stage name "Pagliaccio" to remind him of the audience's presence. He answers with his arietta : " No! Pagliaccio non son! " – "I am not Pagliaccio!" He sings that if his face is pale, it is not from the stage makeup but from the shame she has brought him. The crowd is impressed by his emotional performance and cheers him, without realizing that it

3038-791: The plot of Leoncavallo's libretto from an 1894 French translation. Mendès thought it resembled his 1887 play La Femme de Tabarin , which was structured as a play-within-the-play and featured a clown murdering his wife. Leoncavallo pleaded ignorance of Mendès's play. Later, there were counter-accusations that Mendès's play resembled Don Manuel Tamayo y Baus 's Un Drama Nuevo (1867). Mendès dropped his lawsuit. Scholar Matteo Sansone has suggested that Leoncavallo had ample opportunity to be exposed to new French art and musical works while living in Paris from 1882 to 1888, including potentially Mendès's play, another version of La femme de Tabarin by Paul Ferrier, and Tabarin , an opera composed by Émile Pessard that

3100-571: The room, and the audience laughs. Arlecchino and Colombina dine, and he gives her a sleeping potion to use later, "so that when Pagliaccio returns, she can drug him and elope with Arlecchino." Taddeo then bursts in, warning them that Pagliaccio is suspicious of his wife and is about to return. As Arlecchino escapes through the window, Colombina tells him, "I will always be yours!" As Pagliaccio enters, he hears Colombina speak this line and, now as Canio, exclaims " Nome di Dio! Quelle stesse parole! " – "Name of God! Those same words!" He tries to continue

3162-445: The stage. Canio, grabbing a knife from the table, stabs Nedda. As she dies, she calls: "Help! Silvio!" Silvio attacks Canio, but Canio kills him as well. The horrified audience then hears the celebrated final line: In the original manuscript, Tonio sang the opera's final line, " La Commedia è finita! ", paralleling the prologue, also sung by Tonio. The appropriation of this final line by Canio dates back to 1895. John Wright has analysed

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3224-458: The story of her seduction by Turiddu and his affair with Lola. Lucia pities Santuzza, who feels dishonoured, having been seduced by Turiddu only to be abandoned by him for his old flame, Lola. Santuzza feels she cannot enter the church, but begs Lucia to go inside herself and pray for her. Santuzza stays behind to try to plead with Turiddu to leave Lola and return to her. Turiddu arrives. Santuzza upbraids him for pretending to have gone away, when he

3286-448: The trumpet solo, coming out of the pit and mounting the stage to play it. Before the action takes place, the young villager Turiddu returns from military service to find out that his fiancée Lola had married the carter Alfio while he was away. In revenge, Turiddu seduced Santuzza, a young woman in the village. As the opera begins, Lola, overcome by her jealousy of Santuzza, has begun an adulterous affair with Turiddu. The main square of

3348-493: The village Offstage, Turiddu is heard singing a siciliana , "O Lola ch'ai di latti la cammisa" ("O Lola, you whose blouse is as white as milk," commonly rendered in English as "O Lola! like the snow, pure in thy whiteness!"). To one side is the church; to the other is Lucia's wine shop and the house where she lives with her son, Turiddu. The villagers move about the square, singing of the beautiful spring day, "Gli aranci olezzano sui verdi margini" (literally, "Oranges smell good on

3410-473: The work on 11 December as a double-bill with Orfeo ed Euridice , with the same cast as the London premiere with Melba in the role of Nedda, De Lucia as Canio, and Ancona as Tonio. The Met again staged Pagliacci as a double-bill with the same cast and conductor, this time followed by Cavalleria rusticana on 22 December 1893 with Emma Calvé as Santuzza, conducted by Enrico Bevignani . The two operas have since been frequently performed in this double-bill,

3472-474: Was actually seeing Lola. Lola enters the square singing. She mocks Santuzza and goes inside the church. Turiddu turns to follow Lola, but Santuzza begs him to stay. Turiddu pushes her away. She clings to him. He loosens her hands, throws her to the ground, and enters the church. Alfio arrives looking for Lola. Santuzza tells him that his wife has betrayed him with Turiddu. Alfio swears to take vendetta (revenge) which causes Santuzza to repent for having disclosed

3534-482: Was based on Ferrier's play. The opening Prologue was written for Victor Maurel "as an afterthought", as Leoncavallo said in a conversation with the critic and singing teacher Herman Klein during his visit to London for the UK premiere in 1893: he wrote it "as an inducement to a clever, but rather egotistical baritone to sing the part of Tonio, who felt it wasn't important enough for an artist of his distinction. Perhaps he

3596-481: Was first recorded in Germany in 1909. As in live performances of the opera, recordings of the work have often been paired with Ruggero Leoncavallo 's Pagliacci . In addition to the original Italian, recordings of the work in the English, French, German, and Hungarian languages have been released. Mascagni himself conducted the opera in two recordings, the better-known of which is the 1940 EMI recording made to mark

3658-428: Was his first opera to be completed and performed. It remains the best known of his fifteen operas and one operetta ( Sì ). Apart from Cavalleria rusticana , only Iris and L'amico Fritz have remained in the standard repertory, with Isabeau and Il piccolo Marat on the fringes of the Italian repertoire. Its success has been phenomenal ever since its first performance. At the time of Mascagni's death in 1945,

3720-497: Was performed in 1909 — Pagliacci by Leoncavallo . The first Bulgarian opera works were also presented in the period, including Siromahkinya by Emanuil Manolov , Kamen i Tsena by Ivan Ivanov and Václav Kaucký, Borislav by Georgi Atanasov and Tahir Begovitsa by Dimitar Hadzhigeorgiev. As the company evolved under the ensemble system and style, the permanent troupe of soloists, choir, orchestra, ballet, technical and production teams produced up to 10 opera and ballet premieres

3782-400: Was right. Anyhow I thought the matter over and hit upon the idea that a prologue, sung before the curtain by one of the humblest characters, would prove something of a novelty and by no means out of place. Being, as you know, my own librettist, I quickly wrote the words and sketched the music. My baritone was delighted, both with the notion and the result, and I am bound to add that it proved one

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3844-515: Was seen during the night in the village. Lucia asks her inside to talk, but just at that moment, Alfio arrives on his wagon, accompanied by the villagers. He praises the joys of a teamster 's life and the beauty of Lola his bride. Alfio asks Lucia for some of her fine old wine. She tells him it has run out and Turiddu has gone away to buy more. Alfio replies that he had seen Turiddu early that morning near his cottage. Lucia starts to express surprise, but Santuzza stops her. Alfio leaves. The choir inside

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