Music by Pietro Mascagni
Libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci after the eponymous novella by Giovanni Verga

Musical Director: Valery Gergiev
Stage Director and Lighting Designer: Arnaud Bernard
Costume Designer: Arnaud Bernard, Marianna Stranska
Musical Preparation: Alla Brosterman
Chorus Masters: Nikita Gribanov, Konstantin Rylov

The production uses sets designed by Camille Dugas for the opera I vespri siciliani (Mariinsky Theatre, 2017), a gift of Veronica Atkins

Arnaud Bernard's production transposes the action of the opera's plot from a village in Sicily to the Italian Quarter of New York in the 1920s. The stage director believes that Italian immigrants brought with them to the New World the same earthy and archaic understanding of life and death, faith and honour and love and destiny that were commonly accepted in Sicily in the mid 19^th century – the time when the story of Cavalleria rusticana unfolds, the novella serving as the basis for the libretto. If love before marriage can excommunicate a sinner from communion, if treachery leads to a knife-fight between rivals, then an insult may be washed away with blood, piety is proper, vengeance has deep roots and respect for one's mother becomes true "mammismo". In the 1890s, the portrayal of these powerful emotions verging on naturalism found an unexpected and passionate response with audiences and then, immediately following its premiere, the young Pietro Mascagni's first opera was staged at dozens of theatres in Europe and America. It paved the way for an entire movement in Italian opera which was given the name "verismo" (from the Italian "vero" meaning "truth"). By the close of the century verismo had died out, though its ideas were reflected in the operas of Giacomo Puccini and Francesco Cilea among other composers and, later on, in Italian cinema.

World premiere: 17 May 1890, Teatro Costanzi, Rome
Premiere at the Mariinsky Theatre: 18 January 1893 (in Russian, translation by Mikhail Ivanov and Nikolai Spassky)
Production premiere: 25 November 2020

Sicilian village morning is brightened by the holiday preparations: it is Easter. Modest landscape blossoms with the song of a handsome young man Turiddu, who glorifies his beloved Lola. All Italian passion vibrates in his voice. Unfortunately, neither the happiness of a great holiday nor the nature’s harmony could console Santuzza rejected by Turiddu. His affection was a fleeting passion — an indemnity for Lola’s betrayal. Santuzza, who carries Turiddu’s baby under her heart, maddened from jealousy and sorrow doesn’t dare to step into the temple to find comfort in its walls. In desperate seeking for Turiddu she rushes to his mother Lucia, the mistress of the tavern.

Alfio — Lola’s husband — is happy: the things are going well, his beautiful wife decided not to wait for beloved Turiddu’s return who became a soldier, instead she preferred a stable life with Alfio — the richest man in the village. However, everyone besides him knows hardly had insulted Turiddu turned Santuzza’s head, when Lola remembered her passion. Santuzza has no defenders, even Lucia cannot console her. Desperation brings her to Alfio: but only for a second she finds relief for her soul — while telling him about the faithlessness of Lola and Turiddu. An unexpected grief of a betrayed husband finds its only way out — in cold revenge.

A cheering crowd on the way from Easter service enters Lucia’s tavern to have a glass of wine. Turiddu offers a drink to Alfio but the rival’s wine could only poison Alfio, so he denies the glass. Turiddu splashes out the glass and challenges Alfio for a duel: according to Sicilian manners, Turiddu bites Alfio’s ear. Wine whispers Turiddu about his close death and sudden remorse remind him of his responsibilities. Turiddu is willing to wash away Santuzza’s disgrace with his own blood — the disgrace of the girl, who fell as a victim of his offended pride. Ready to deal with his rival, full of remorse — Turiddu entrusts Santuzza to his mother Lucia’s care for ever.