Cavalleria rusticana i Pagliacci

Two short operas by Mascagni and Leoncavallo, both centred on passions pushed to the limit: jealousy, honour and a vengeance in Cavalleria rusticana, and a tragedy that bursts into the performance in Pagliacci. They are presented at the Teatre Auditori de Granollers.

Cavalleria rusticana is set in a Sicilian village, where jealousy and a question of honour lead to revenge and death. The opera is based on the novel of the same name by Giovanni Verga, with a libretto by Giovanni Targioni Tozzetti and Guido Menasci. Pagliacci, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo, follows a travelling theatre company whose conflict resembles that of the fiction: reality enters the stage and turns the performance into a tragedy.

The show offers live music, with recognisable moments such as the Intermezzo from the first opera and Vesti la giubba from the second. The cast includes Maite Alberola as Santuzza, Sergio Escobar as Turiddu and Canio, Katerina Estrada Tretyakova as Nedda and Javier Franco as Alfio and Tonio, alongside Mireia Pintó, Anna Gomà, Cristòfol Romaguera and Jorge Juan Morata. They are joined by the Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès and the Cor Amics de l'Òpera de Sabadell, with musical direction by Jhoanna Sierralta and stage direction by Miquel Gorriz.

The operas are sung with Catalan surtitles. The production is by the Fundació Òpera a Catalunya, and the programme includes a talk by Marc Heilbron.