| Opera North | ||
| Tobias Ringborg | Direction | |
| Karolina Sofulak | Mise en scène | |
| Charles Edwards | Décors | |
| Gabrielle Dalton | Costumes | |
| Chorus of Opera North | ||
| Orchestra of Opera North | ||
| Oliver Rundell | Chef de chœur | |
| Giselle Allen | Soprano | Santuzza |
| Katie Bray | Mezzo-soprano | Lola |
| Rosalind Plowright | Mezzo-soprano | Mamma Lucia |
| Jonathan Stoughton | Ténor | Turiddu |
| Phillip Rhodes | Baryton | Alfio |
With a score that includes the famous Easter Hymn and Intermezzo, this piece remains for many the very essence of Italian opera.
Opera’s most celebrated overnight success, Cavalleria rusticana spearheaded the verismo movement (whose leading lights included Leoncavallo and Puccini) which demonstrated that ordinary people can have opera-sized emotions too.
Turiddù and Lola were once lovers; but when he left to join the army, Lola married another man. Although Turridù finds consolation in the arms of Santuzza, his obsessive passion for Lola still burns fiercely. Thus the stage is set for a tale of faithlessness, jealousy and violence, set in a rural community where the church maintains an iron grip on the souls of its people.
Mascagni displays a masterly control of pacing in this, his first opera, conveying a taut, gritty drama through a succession of gorgeously lyrical melodies.