Mascagani: Cavalleria Rusticana

On this CD:

1. Cavalleria rusticana, opera in 1 act
Composed by Pietro Mascagni
Performed by La Scala Theater Orchestra with Gino Bechi, Beniamino Gigli, Lina Bruna Rasa, Giulietta Simionato, Maria Marcucci
Conducted by Pietro Mascagni

Tracks:

Introductory Speech - Pietro Mascagni
Prld/O Lola - Orch Of La Scala, Milan/Pietro Mascagni/Beniamino Gigli
Gli Aranci Olezzano - Chor Of La Scala, Milan/Pietro Mascagni
Dite, Mamma Lucia - Lina Bruna Rasa
Il Cavallo Scalpita/Beato Voi, Coeli/Perche M'hai Fatto Sogno... - Gino Bechi/Giulietta Simionato
Voi Lo Sapete - Lina Bruna Rasa

Tracks:

Tu Qui, Santuzza? - Beniamino Gigli
Fior Di Giaggiolo - Maria Marcucci
Ah! Lo Vedi, Che Hai Tu Detto? - Beniamino Gigli
Oh! Il Signore Vi Manda, Compar Alfio - Lina Bruna Rasa
Intermezzo - Orch Of La Scala, Milan/Pietro Mascagni
A Casa, A Casa, Amici - Chor Of La Scala, Milan/Pietro Mascagni
Viva Il Vino Spumeggiante - Beniamino Gigli
A Voi Tutti Salute! - Gino Bechi
Mamma, Quel Vino E Generoso - Beniamino Gigli

Customer Reviews:

The composer conducts his masterpiece (fifty years later).......2006-08-06

Source: Studio recording made April 14-20, 1940 at the Milan Conservatory.

Sound: Fairly decent 1940 Italian mono. As is usual for the period, the voices are very well caught. Orchestral reproduction, on the other hand, is more impressionistic than precise in many places. To anyone who wants to wallow in the glorious sounds of Gigli, Simionato and Rasa, this set will be a treasure. To those who are primarily concerned with, say, matters of symphonic development or the subtleties of the second bassoon, this is not for you. Seek elsewhere.

Cast: Turiddu - Beniamino Gigli (tenor); Santuzza - Lina Bruna Rasa, (soprano); Mamma Lucia - Giulietta Simionato (mezzo-soprano); Alfio - Gino Bechi (baritone); Lola - Maria Marcucci (mezzo-soprano). Conductor: Pietro Mascagni with the La Scala Orchestra and Chorus.

Format: Disk 1 - Introductory remarks by Pietro Mascagni, track 1, 1:27; "Cavalleria Rusticana," tracks 2-9; 39:27. Disk 2 - "Cavalleria Rusticana" (continued), tracks 1-9; 41:53.

Documentation: No libretto. Short commentary on the opera and the composer and a summary of the plot by Bill Parker. Track list identifies main solo character on each track but neglects to show timings.

Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945) was a competent, energetic and moderately prolific composer who is remembered as a one-hit wonder. This is unfair, but that is the way of history. Mascagni was also a prominent Italian conductor. When Toscanini broke with the Fascisti, Mascagni took over as music director at La Scala in Milan. Unfortunately for his memory, he throughly blotted his copybook by being a strong supporter of Mussolini. There are depressing films of him conducting amid the vast extravaganzas so beloved by totalitarians while proudly wearing his Fascist black shirt. He lived long enough to learn how very wrong a political horse he had backed.

Mascagni's one great hit premiered in Rome on May 17, 1890. While it shares some elements with earlier works such as "La Gioconda," "Cavalleria Rusticana" was the first and it still remains the defining work of the style that has come to be known as "verismo."

There is a certain school of critics who look down their noses at verismo in general and "Cavalleria" in particular. They declare it to be crude and mean (for, as we all know, art stopped short / In the cultivated court / Of the Empress Josephine.) To those actually willing to listen, that crudity now seems sophistication when compared to the aridity of later composers and the meanness now seems a distillation of the true human emotion that was entirely leeched out of music in the latter half of the Twentieth Century.

This recording was made one month short of ''Cavalleria Rusticana's" fiftieth anniversary, and, alas, one month before the fall of France in 1940. It showcases Beniamino Gigli, the leading Italian tenor of the day and Lina Bruna Rasa, Mascagni's favorite Santuzza. It was clearly intended to be the gala celebration of "Cavalleria's" golden anniversary. In addition to the strong cast, it boasts the memorable presence of the composer himself on the conductor's podium.

The recording is a partial failure because of the presence of the composer on the podium.

To most of its listeners, verismo implies a certain degree of impulsive, straight-ahead, pedal to the metal, explosive emotionality. This recording makes in clear that Mascagni did not agree. All through the opera, the conductor tugs at phrases and stretches scenes in ways the composer never wrote into the score, and often in ways that seem hardly conceivable the composer would condone. Perhaps Mascagni sought an elegance unnoticed by anyone else. He succeeded only in damping the white-heat that is the very core of his "Cavalleria" and the genius of his art. Furtwaengler could get away with that kind of monkey business. Mascagni could not.

Gigli was fifty years old when he made this recording. He was in fine, even thrilling voice as Turiddu. Following the too early death of Enrico Caruso, he was widely recognized as the greatest Italian tenor in the world. In 1940, even with such luminaries as Bjorling, Martinelli and Lauri-Volpi above the musical horizon, that was still probably true.

Sadly, Lina Bruna Rasa suffered from severe psychological problems, but there is nothing of that in her performance as Santuzza. She is a textbook example of pure verismo style.

This is the first recorded appearance of the young Giulietta Simionato. Even here in this initial outing as Mama Lucia, she clearly demonstrates why she was regarded as one of the great Italian mezzos of the Twentieth Century, perhaps the greatest.

Gino Bechi as Alfio and Maria Marcucci as Lola both offer excellent performances, dimmed only by the truly stellar vocal splendors of their colleagues.

Fans of Gigli simply must have this performance. That is equally true for Simionato's admirers. Anyone who has felt the electric charge of the verismo in an opera house should hear Lina Bruna Rasa as one of its perfect exemplars. For the singers, this set plainly deserves five stars. For the outright oddity of its conducting and its leaden slowness (81:27 compared to Serafin's 77:48 with Callas), I reduce that to four stars.

Excellent Performance, LOUSY recording quality.......2001-08-30

My voice teacher recommended this recording to me. It is a strange version of this opera. I own another version with Jussi Bjoerling as Turridu which has excellent sound. Mascagni's conducting is muuuuch toooooo slooooow on this one.
Gigli's singing of the opening aria is incredible. It is a shame that the background noise on this cd wasn't cleaned up before release. I find it unlistenable without using
the subsonic filter on my amplifier. My attempt to make a tape to play in my car was a disaster. I feel that anyone looking for this excellent performance should try another label and perhaps they will be rewarded with a wonderfull listening experience. I plan to keep this cd at least until I find a better recorded version. What a shame! I have a STRANGE voice teacher.

Leoncavallo: I Pagliacci; Mascagani: Cavalleria Rusticana

Average customer rating:

Leoncavallo: I Pagliacci; Mascagani: Cavalleria Rusticana

Manufacturer: Documents Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Classical | Imports | Stores | Music

Opera & Vocal | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000093FK5
Release Date: 2003-04-29

Average customer rating:

Leoncavallo: I Pagliacci; Mascagani: Cavalleria Rusticana

Manufacturer: Documents
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00008WQAA
Release Date: 2006-05-04

Tracks:

Cavalleria Rusticana - Preludio
Cavalleria Rusticana - Siciliana. O Lola Ch'hai Di Latti La Cammisa
Cavalleria Rusticana - Preludio (Conclusion)
Cavalleria Rusticana - Coro D'introduzione. Allegro Giocoso. Gli Aranci Olezzano
Cavalleria Rusticana - Scena. Largo
Cavalleria Rusticana - Scena. Dite, Mamma Lucia...
Cavalleria Rusticana - Sortita Di Alfio Con Coro. Il Cavallo Scalpita
Cavalleria Rusticana - Scena E Preghiera. Beato Voi, Compar Alfio
Cavalleria Rusticana - Scena E Preghiera. Regina Coeli Laetare
Cavalleria Rusticana - Scena E Preghiera. Inneggiamo
Cavalleria Rusticana - Romanza E Scena. Voi Lo Sapete, O Mamma
Cavalleria Rusticana - Scena. Tu Qui, Santuzza?
Cavalleria Rusticana - Stornello Di Lola. Fior Di Giaggiolo
Cavalleria Rusticana - Duetto. Ah! Lo Vedi!
Cavalleria Rusticana - Duetto. Oh! Il Signore Vi Manda
Cavalleria Rusticana - Duetto. Comare Santa
Cavalleria Rusticana - Intermezzo Sinfonico
Cavalleria Rusticana - Scena, Coro E Brindisi. A Casa, A Casa
Cavalleria Rusticana - Scena, Coro E Brindisi. Intanto Amici ... Viva Il Vino Sp
Cavalleria Rusticana - Finale. A Voi Tutti Salute!
Cavalleria Rusticana - Finale. Mamma, Quel Vino Generoso
Pagliacci - No. 1, "Si Puo?" (Prologue)
Pagliacci - Act I, No. 2, "Son Qual"
Pagliacci - Act I, No. 3, "Un Grande Spettacolo"
Pagliacci - Act I, No. 4, "Un Tal Gioco"
Pagliacci - Act I, No. 5a, "I Zampognari!"
Pagliacci - Act I, No. 5b, "Din, Don" (Bell Chorus)
Pagliacci - Act I, No. 6a, "Qual Fiamma Avea Nel Guardo!"
Pagliacci - Act I, No. 6b, "Oh! Che Volo D'augelli"
Pagliacci - Act I, No. 6c, "Stridono Lassu"
Pagliacci - Act I, No. 7a, "Sei La!"
Pagliacci - Act I, No. 7b, "So Ben Che Difforne"
Pagliacci - Act I, No. 8a, "Silvio! A Quest'ora"
Pagliacci - Act I, No. 8b, "Decidi Il Mio Destin"
Pagliacci - Act I, No. 8c, "E Allor Perche"
Pagliacci - Act I, No. 9a, "Recitar!"
Pagliacci - Act I, No. 9b, "Vesti La Giubba"
Pagliacci - Act I, No. 10, "Intermezzo"
Pagliacci - Act Ii, No. 11, "Presto, Affrettiamoci"
Pagliacci - Act Ii, No. 12a, "Pagliaccio, Mio Marito"
Pagliacci - Act Ii, No. 12b, "O Colombina" (Serenade)
Pagliacci - Act Ii, No. 12c, "E Dessa!"
Pagliacci - Act Ii, No. 13a, "Versa Il Filtro"
Pagliacci - Act Ii, No. 13b, "No, Pagliaccio Non Son"
Pagliacci - Act Ii, No. 14a, "Ebben, Se Mir Giudichi"
Pagliacci - Act Ii, No. 14b, "No, Per Mia Madre!"

Music Track:

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