Melodrama in one act
Music by Pietro Mascagni
Libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti
Based on the short story of the same name by Giovanni Verga
Prologue by  Luciano Berio for a capella choir “E si fussi pisci”
Director Marco Angius
Characters and actors:
Santuzza Alisa Kolosova
Turiddu Eduardo Niave
Lucia, mother of Turiddu Eleonora Filipponi
Alfio, cartwright Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar
Lola, wife of Alfio Alexandra Meteleva
Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto
Coro Lirico Veneto LI.VE.

A New Production by the Municipality of Bassano del Grappa and the Municipality of Padua 

Opera returns to the festival program with a new concert-form production of Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana. Composed in 1890, it remains one of the most celebrated works of the Italian Verismo repertoire. Set in a Sicilian village on Easter Sunday, it tells a story of love, jealousy, and revenge that unfolds in a single act of intense dramatic concentration. Mascagni's music is direct, incisive, and rich with memorable melodies, capable of immediately conveying the raw emotions of the characters in a tragic tale that culminates in a duel—the symbol of an archaic and inexorable code of honor.

The opera will open with a composition for a cappella choir by Luciano Berio: E si fussi pisci. In this piece, the voices not only sing a beautiful folk melody but also use tongue clicks and vocal effects to reproduce the arrival of a Sicilian cart—the sound of hooves on the pavement and the horse's neigh—before the cunto (the storytelling) of Giovanni Verga begins.

This choral version is dedicated to Umberto Eco. The short text is in Sicilian dialect, yet easily understood: E si fussi pisci lu mari passassi / E si fussi aceddu ‘nni tia vinissi. // E vucca cu’ vucca ti vurria vasari / E visu cu visu parlari cu’ tia [And if I were a fish, I would cross the sea / And if I were a bird, I would come to you. // And mouth to mouth I would want to kiss you / And face to face speak with you].

Plot

The act takes place in a small Sicilian village on Easter Sunday. The opera opens with the voice of Turiddu singing a serenade to his beloved Lola, despite knowing that while he was away on military service, she married Alfio. Among the festive crowd of villagers appears Santuzza, Turiddu’s current fiancée. Sensing her complicated situation, Santuzza decides to seek advice from Mamma Lucia, Turiddu’s mother. Lucia claims that Turiddu has gone to buy wine for the festivities; when Santuzza counters that he was seen wandering around the village, Lucia—fearing that someone might overhear them—silences her and asks her to enter the house. Santuzza, however, refuses the invitation. Alfio arrives at Lucia's house to pay a visit. When he asks for the holiday wine, Lucia repeats that Turiddu is seeing to it. Alfio replies that he had seen Turiddu that very morning, lingering near his own home. As soon as Alfio leaves the scene, Santuzza reveals the ongoing affair between Turiddu and Lola to a stunned Lucia, who turns to the Madonna in prayer for her son’s sin. Turiddu then enters and begins to argue with Santuzza; Lola soon arrives and joins the dispute, mocking Santuzza. Lola leaves to attend church, at which point the argument between Turiddu and Santuzza turns violent. When Turiddu resorts to physical force against Santuzza, she curses him with a "bad Easter" (malapasqua). Turiddu eventually heads to the church as well. Deeply hurt and embittered, Santuzza reveals the affair between Lola and Turiddu to Alfio. Once the mass is over, Turiddu offers wine to the villagers, secretly intending to spend more time with Lola. He offers wine to Alfio too, but the carter refuses it. Turiddu then moves to embrace him as a conciliatory gesture; however, this is a ruse to bite Alfio's ear—a traditional challenge to a duel. Turiddu embraces his mother and begs her to look after Santuzza. The scene concludes with a scream rising from the crowd of townspeople: "They have killed neighbor Turiddu!"