Cavalleria rusticana / Pagliacci (ROH Live)

21 APRIL 2020

7.00pm – 10.00pm

Live from Royal Opera HousePart of our 2019/20 Live Cinema Season, streamed simultaneously from the ROH to our cinema screen and in full surround sound.StoryTwo opera classics are drawn together in this wonderfully observed re-creation of life in a south Italian village as a travelling theatre visits and emotions erupt. The award-winning production by Damiano Michieletto presents vividly the fast-moving, shocking events brought about by secret love and uncontrollable jealousy. The music is full of Italianate melody in the great choruses that bring the villagers together in celebration and revelry, alongside the solo arias and tense confrontations that provoke violence and tragedy.BackgroundPietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana (Rustic Chivalry) and Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci (The Players) are today Italian opera’s most famous double act, but they were written independently. Cavalleria rusticana came first, its hugely successful premiere in 1890 doubtless an influence on Leoncavallo. His Pagliacci in 1892 was another triumph. The two works, each undeniable masterpieces of the verismo tradition of realism, share dramatic concision, melodic richness and an obsession with violent jealousy.Damiano Michieletto’s production was an Olivier-Award-winning hit when first presented in 2015. He sets both operas within the same village, allowing characters from one piece to reappear in the other and offering theatrical realism within visuals that are modern and yet timeless. The production was widely praised at its premiere, and summarized by the Financial Times as ‘a gripping evening all round’.Tickets £16.50 in advance (includes booking fee)Please arrive at least 15 mins before the performance begins.Approximate running time: 3 hours