One of the most iconic pairings of two one-act operas is featured on this week’s Sunday Opera (12/13 3:00 p.m.) with Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci” from Opera Barcelona. Both operas look at the tragic results of lost love. In “Cavalleria Rusticana,” Turiddu (Roberto Alagna) has returned from war only to find that his love, Lola (Mercedes Gancedo), has married the carter Alfio (Gabriele Vivian), and although he is loved by Santuzza (Elena Pankratova), Turiddu begins an affair with Lola that angers the jealous Alfio. In “Pagliacci,” Canio (Roberto Alanga), the head of a traveling theatre troupe, suspects his wife Nedda (Aleksandra Kurzak) has been seeing another, and his suspicions are realized when he sees Silvio (Duncan Rock) and Nedda together because of the meddling of the repugnant Tonio (Gabriele Vivian) who is also in love with Nedda. After the operas, Michael Kownacky will begin with another Mascagni one-act opera, “Zanetto,” a two-character conversation between a young and idealistic poet (Andrea Vesparsian) and a world weary courtesan (Rita Lantieri). To lighten the mood, we’ll finish the afternoon with a charming ballet by Claude Debussy entitled “La boite a Joujox" or “The Toybox,” a delightful fantasy that continues our theme of troubled relationships, but this time, it has a happy ending.
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The Sunday Opera: "Cavalleria Rusticana" and "Pagliacci" from Opera Barcelona
