Pietro Mascagni

Salzburg Easter Festival presents boasting cast led by the star tenor Jonas Kaufmann (in his role debut as Turiddu) under the uber-conductor Christian Thielemann. As both a stage and film director, Philipp Stölzl reflects in his productions on how cinema usurped opera’s place in the popular imagination of Italy a century ago. Dividing the stage into six segments and mixing live video into the picture, he references the era of black-and-white movies.

Building on the success of Cavalleria rusticana, Pietro Mascagni’s commedia lirica L’amico Fritz was given seven encores and thirty-five curtain calls at its premiere in Rome in 1891. Considered by critics to be one of Mascagni’s best operas, the story is that of a love triangle involving the wealthy Fritz Kobus and Suzel, daughter of one of his tenants, who together sing the famous ‘Cherry Duet’ in Act II. Returning to the Teatro del Maggio Musicale in Florence for the first time since 1941, this production was acclaimed for its superb cast and astonishingly effective modern setting. Building on the success of Cavalleria rusticana, Pietro Mascagni’s commedia lirica L’amico Fritz was given seven encores and thirty-five curtain calls at its premiere in Rome in 1891. Considered by critics to be one of Mascagni’s best operas, the story is that of a love triangle involving the wealthy Fritz Kobus and Suzel, daughter of one of his tenants, who together sing the famous ‘Cherry Duet’ in Act II. Returning to the Teatro del Maggio Musicale in Florence for the first time since 1941, this production was acclaimed for its superb cast and astonishingly effective modern setting.

Pietro Mascagni (1863–1945) was one of those composers who were famous for a single work, the rest of their output remaining practically unknown. His opera Iris is based on a libretto by Luigi Illica, who also wrote the libretti for Puccini operas such as La Bohème, Tosca and Madama Butterfly.

For the premiere of his Cavalleria rusticana in 1889, Pietro Mascagni had to make a whole series of cuts and transpositions: The chorus at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome was not up to the demanding choral parts, and the soloists of Santuzza and Turiddu sometimes complained that their parts were uncomfortably high – and so the composer not only deleted large parts of the choral passages, but also changed his carefully thought-out key concept. Nonetheless, the piece was such a resounding success at its premiere that it continued to be performed in modified form – even after the piece had long since begun its triumphal march around the world.