Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni)
VAI DVD 4422, $29.95

A priceless document of the incomparable mezzo-soprano Giulietta Simionato in the role of Santuzza in Mascagni’s verismo masterpiece. This 1961 Tokyo performance, presented in the Opera Lirica series, also features tenor Angelo Lo Forese as Turiddu and Attilio d'Orazi as Alfio. The NHK Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Giuseppe Morelli. Includes optional subtitles in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish over embedded Japanese subtitles. 75 minutes, Black & White, Mono.

Cavalleria Rusticana
Opera in One Act
Music by Pietro Mascagni
Libretto by Guido Menasci and Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti, based on the play by Giovanni Verga.

Santuzza: Giulietta Simionato
Turiddu: Angelo Lo Forese
Alfio: Attilio d'Orazi
Mamma Lucia: Amalia Pini
Lola: Anna di Stasio

The NHK Symphony Orchestra
NHK Italian Opera Chorus
Fujiwara Opera Chorus
Tokyo Choraliers
Members of the Japanese Ballet Association

Giuseppe Morelli, conductor

Live Performance, October 23, 1961
Tokyo Bunka Kaikan

The great mezzo-soprano Giulietta Simionato began her career, surprisingly, as a comprimaria (supporting) singer. Indeed, in 1940, she recorded the role of Mamma Lucia in the studio recording of Cavalleria Rusticana conducted by Mascagni himself. By the 1950s, however, Simionato had ascended the operatic ladder, and was regarded as the leading Italian mezzo of her generation. This 1961 performance documents Simionato in prime form, completely in command of the vocal and dramatic demands of the role of Santuzza.

Just two seasons earlier, Simionato had sung her first Santuzza at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Irving Kolodin, in his history of the Metropolitan, wrote: "The quality of [her] art was even more graphically revealed [than in previous performances that season as Amneris in Aida].... If the idea of depicting Santuzza's frantic despair by hanging on to Turiddu's wrist as he dragged her across the stage on the way to the church was Simionato's own, it was brilliantly original: certainly the despair that haunted her voice in 'Voi lo sapete' was uniquely her own."

Yet this suggestion of hair-raising histrionics can be misleading, since Simionato masterfully balanced temperament with dramatic understatement. As this video shows, she takes the word verismo seriously, never straying from the reality of the drama. Her delivery of the heart-breaking aria "Voi lo sapete" is a case in point: Simionato remains seated, confiding her sorrow discreetly to Mamma Lucia, not trumpeting it to the balcony, as do many Santuzzas.

VAI is proud to present this video of Cavalleria Rusticana, which showcases the incomparable artistry of one of the century's finest singers.