Cavalleria rusticana / Pagliacci in Darmstadt

Description

Both short operas are jealousy dramas set in contemporary southern Italy, told in a comparatively realistic and concise manner. Mascagni’s one-act opera from 1890, known in German as *Sizilianische Bauern-ehre* (*Sicilian Peasant Honor*), is based on a novella by the Sicilian author Giovanni Verga. Told from the perspective of an impoverished young Sicilian whose fiancée married a wealthier man while he was serving in the military, it depicts experiences of humiliation and archaic notions of honor in a manner that is as laconic as it is empathetic. The opera, however, shifts the focus to the young woman whom he successfully uses to make his ex-fiancée jealous. She, in turn, feels dishonored and sets in motion a chain of events from which there is no escape. The logic of the social system in her village knows only sacrifice, all against the backdrop of the Easter Sunday liturgy of reconciliation. Leoncavallo’s *Pagliacci*, literally “straw people”, was composed in 1892 in response to the success of Mascagni’s veristic one-act opera. At the heart of this opera set in the world of show business, in which a jealous performer, perpetually cast in the role of the cuckolded husband, threatens his wife, who is unfaithful to him in real life as well, lies the question of what is real on stage. In this production, both stars are part of a series set in a circus environment; while filming at the Staatstheater Darmstadt, they are besieged by fans who have booked a “Special Experience Tour.” Drama, Baby – Episode 35 Load external content Always load podcasts instantly on Acast When you load external content, personal data may be transferred to the respective third-party provider.