Cavalleria and Pagliacci

Secret Lives Revealed

It is understandable that Cavalleria Rusticana, composed by Mascagni, and I Pagliacci, composed by Leoncavallo, are often paired and compared by students of opera. These two one-act operas were written within two years of each other and are both considered to be pioneers in the advent of the musical Verismo school (although the decision on whether they are really veristic operas is still to be determined). While Cavalleria is the story of every day villagers who experience tragedy after a revealed infidelity and Pagliacci is the story of clowns who must play the part despite their private distresses, these two operas share many similarities in both the plot and the operatic elements. Both of these operas are tales of love and betrayal which explore the themes of jealousy and infidelity among ordinary people.

Verismo is an Italian word for "realism" and was applied to a movement in Italian literature in the late 19th century that grew from a renewed commitment to the rejuvenation of Italian culture. Veristi (writers, poets, playwrights) were particularly interested in new subject matters that reflected the life in lower classes, life in southern regions of Italy, local customs, and regional language and idioms. Veristic plays were called scene populari and served as the basis for many of the verismo operas to come (www.royaloperacanada.com). With this definition, the veristic elements in Cavalleria can be debated, due to the fact that the villagers are singing of flowers and love whereas other veristic composers would have depicted a different type of villager in their populari.

Though the verismo might be somewhat tenuous in Cavalleria, it is a marked feature of Pagliacci, where the technique of verismo is clearly seen. Tonio sings in the Prologue: 'for we are men of flesh and blood', and the whole opera leads to the irony of the second act where fiction and reality become blurred. Even the final line 'the comedy is over', brings the verismo full circle. In both Cavalleria and Pagliacci, the bulk of the drama is the result of scorned lovers (Santuzza and Tonio) who reveal the private affairs of their former beloveds (Turrido and Nedda). But several differences can be found within these operas that stem from the idea of separating private lives from their public appearances.

In Cavalleria, when Santuzza discovered that Turrido and Lola were having an affair, she was able to confront Turrido on this matter and even spoke with his mother about the ordeal prior to the situation. Santuzza felt rejected by Turrido and reacted by telling Alfio about the affair between he and Lola.