Pietro Mascagni’s 1890 Opera "Cavalleria rusticana": A Critical Edition with Commentary and Historical Introduction

FAIN: FEL-281206-22

Andreas Giger
Louisiana State University and A&M College (Baton Rouge, LA 70803-0001)

Preparation for publication of a critical edition of Pietro Mascagni’s Italian opera Cavalleria rusticana (1890), with historical introduction and commentary.

Cavalleria rusticana, an iconic Italian opera that launched operatic verismo, exists only in corrupt editions. In performance, these editions have prevented the exploration of the opera's full musical and dramatic potential; and in scholarship, they have led to unresolved questions about the work's dramatic conception. This project will produce the opera's first critical edition. Following the most advanced principles and methods, it will make Cavalleria rusticana available not only in its final version but also its original version, which restores in an appendix the last-minute cuts (amounting to over 13% of the score) and allows for the return to the original keys. The original version recovers music never heard in public and a tonal conception more coherent than that of the final version. Finally, the edition resolves longstanding editorial problems, not least those pertaining to an accurate and consistent Sicilian dialect in the opening number.

Associated Products

The Unknown Music of Mascagni’s _Cavalleria rusticana_ (Article)
Title: The Unknown Music of Mascagni’s _Cavalleria rusticana_
Author: Andreas Giger
Abstract: Shortly before the premiere of _Cavalleria rusticana_, Pietro Mascagni cut 246 measures from his opera. This substantial section of music has remained largely unknown and has never been examined. The reason lies in an ostensible lack of sources that might have shed light on these cuts. Recent access to the original prompter’s score, the score once in the possession of the first conductor (Leopoldo Mugnone), autograph letters, unexplored reviews, and a rediscovered staging manual have made a thorough evaluation of the cuts possible. These cuts fall into three categories: (1) those tightening the pace, (2) those reducing the taxing part of the chorus, and (3) those accommodating transpositions requested at the last minute by the star singers Gemma Bellincioni (Santuzza) and Roberto Stagno (Turiddu). The article argues that the cuts had consequences beyond their originally intended function, affecting the staging, drama, and formal conception. In the “Introduzione,” for instance, they led to confusion about the way in which the scene should be staged; in the “Sortita di Alfio,” they eliminate music that functioned as the culmination of the aria’s large-scale formal plan; and in the composite No. 5, they exaggerate beyond the composer’s original conception the so-called dramaturgy of harsh junctures. In short, these cuts shed important light on the composer’s original dramatic intentions and technical aspirations, and have lingered for over one hundred years without being considered for reinstatement.
Year: 2022
Access Model: subscription only
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: The Journal of Musicology
Publisher: University of California Press

Masterpieces of Italian Opera: Pietro Mscagni's Cavalleria Rustincana (Book)
Title: Masterpieces of Italian Opera: Pietro Mscagni's Cavalleria Rustincana
Author: Pietro Mascagni
Editor: Andreas Giger
Abstract: The premiere of Pietro Mascagni’s “Cavalleria rusticana” in May of 1890 is a landmark in the history of opera. It was an enormous success, ostensibly marking the beginning of operatic verismo, and it was also praised for reenergizing a tradition the Italians felt had been languishing for some time. Mascagni composed the work as an entry for the second competition for a new one-act opera sponsored by the Milanese publisher Edoardo Sonzogno in 1888. This history is well known, as is the fact that Mascagni made substantial cuts to his opera while it was being prepared for performance at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. The reasons for these cuts are manifold. They appear in every number except for the Preludio and the Intermezzo and fall into three categories: those tightening the tempi, those reducing the more demanding chorus’ parts, and those accommodating transpositions requested at the last minute by the protagonist singers Gemma Bellincioni and Roberto Stagno. All cuts are included in the appendix of “Cavalleria rusticana”, the second volume of the series “Masterpieces of Italian Opera.” (MIO)
Year: 2025
Primary URL: https://www.baerenreiter.com/en/product/BA07649-01
Primary URL Description: Publisher's website
Secondary URL: https://search.worldcat.org/title/1514458528
Secondary URL Description: WorldCat
Access Model: Book
Publisher: Bärenreiter
Type: Edited Volume
ISBN: 9790006543649
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes

---