Intermezzi del Verismo – Puccini, Mascagni, Leoncavallo, Giordano, Cilea, Wolf-Ferrari

Puccini, Giacomo;
Mascagni, Pietro;
Leoncavallo, Ruggero;
Giordano, Umberto;
Wolf-Ferrari, Ermanno;
Montemezzi, Italo

Philharmonisches Orchester Graz;
Zocche, Lodovico

CPO 777 953-2

This month we are offering you the opportunity to become acquainted with captivating verismo intermezzi. The focus is occupied by intermezzi from the famous operas of Giacomo Puccini, Pietro Mascagni, and Ruggero Leoncavallo and their masterfully instrumented music rich in emotions and ideas. Here three veristic works by these composers merit special mention: According to some music historians, the Rome premiere of Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana on 17 May 1890 signaled the birth of this special stylistic current. Ever since its Milan premiere on 21 May 1892 Leoncavallo's two-act Pagliacci has recommended itself as the perfect counterpart to the one-act opera by Puccini, who was six years his junior. Italo Montemezzi's L'amore dei tre re (The Love of the Three Kings) developed the fundamental veristic concept in absolutely phenomenal fashion and into three gripping acts. This lesser-known opera was staged at the Teatro alla Scala considerably later, on 10 April 1913, when its composer was thirty-eight-years old.

CD

Muzyka klasyczna

CPO

12-08-2015

761203795321