Shreveport Opera: Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci are timeless works

Shreveport Opera
Originally uploaded by trudeau

Excellent summaries and comparisons, Andrew. I'm putting the essay on fineartsmagnet so the class can review it. 10/10 -robert trudeau 11/2/08 4:19 PM

Tragedy Within Comedy

Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci are two timeless operas that have remained popular even to this day. They have many things in common, such as the time of the setting, the writer, and the time of year of the setting: Easter.

Both operas tell the stories of passionate – and unfaithful – lovers. In Cavalleria Rusticana, the character of Turiddu slept with Santuzza in order to make is ex-fiancé, Lola, jealous. And jealous she became . . . . Santuzza cannot stand the shunning she is receiving from Turiddu. So, to take her revenge, she tells Lola’s husband, Alfio, about Turiddu’s affair. In his anger, Alfio challenges Turiddu to a duel which ends in Turiddu’s death. The no only leaves him dead, but it also leaves Santuzza without a father for her child and Lucia without her beloved son.

Pagliacci is about a traveling acting troupe. As they enter a small town to perform, two different affairs are unveiled; Canio’s wife, Nedda, is cheating on him with Silvio. The other affair is quite ironic. Canio and Nedda’s characters in the play within the play are also unfaithful. Nedda’s character has taken a lover. While the performance goes on, the actors begin to argue. Canio demands to be told the name of Nedda’s lover. The audience does not realize, at first, that they are not acting. Silvo runs to the stage to rescue his love, but Canio stabs both of them and ends with the famous line, “La Commedia è finita!” – meaning, “the play is over.”

Both operas show to darker side of love. What happens when you betray the one person who trusted you the most? As we see from these shows, it usually ends in tragedy. That, I would say, is the reverberating theme of these musical masterpieces.