Cavalleria Rusticana SICILIANA (announced) 1903

Prelude: "O Lola"
In 1888 the publishing house Sanzogno called for a competition for composing operas in three act, with a theme chosen by the participants. There was prize money and the immediate staging of the operas that achieved the first three places. By then, Pietro Mascagni was 25 years old and was almost unknown. He had withdrawn from the Milan Conservatory and worked as director of a company itinerant opera. No one - not even he - thought that in the short term could move on to occupy an important place in the musical life of Italy at the end of XIX Century. Mascagni knew of the contest brought and took the opportunity to make themselves known to the musicalization of the novel "Cavallería Rusticana" by Giovanni Verga, and success in Italy to be converted into a theater piece. Mascagni asked for the drafting of the text to the librettists Giovanni Targioni-Tossetti and Guido Menasci, and composed the opera in a few months.

They submitted to the contest, and works between 72 participants, won the first prize. "Cavalry Rusticana" was the first and only renowned opera composed by Mascagni, resting it practically his whole life and fame.

The most accurate translation of the title would be "Rustic Chivalry or parochial" and refers to a code of honor that governs in a modest community Sicilian.

__________________________________
Spanish lyrics for Tiriddu Prelude:
PRELUDIO

TURIDDU(fuera de escena)




¡Oh Lola, cuya camisa es blanca
como la leche, eres blanca
y encarnada cual cereza,
cuando te asomas eres toda sonrisas;
bendito sea
el que te dio el primer beso.
Tu puerta de sangre
está rociada y no me importaría
matarme ante tu umbral;
y si al morir yo fuera al Paraíso
no entraría si no te encontrara allí.

/"Caballerosidad rústica o pueblerina"/

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Cavalleria
• Rusticana
• ENRICO
• CARUSO
• 1903
• Mascagni
• siciliana
• TURIDDU

[jamesandgrainne]

McCormick was also the voice said by Caruso himself.

[balletamie]

Sure was!

[jurek46pink]

Despite of all poor means of technique of the time - this IS the voice !

[balletamie]

Yes, I'm making this Caruso series with lyrics because is a good star point for everyone. If at least one young you tuber gets to like him, that values the hours gone by making them.

[balletamie]

I wanted to say: start point

[operabitch77]

i believe this is a half step ower. he recorded this aria twice this fine day, oncein the original and in the lower key. why? no one knows. but i like the voice in either key. he still is the greatest opera singer ever to grace the stage.

[ALDabbagh1988]

Beyond Wonderful

[wiseroldfart]

@nextandykaufman: I'm amazed the current crap gets any playing time at all. I grew up with Elvis, the Stones, and the Beatles. The Beatles really knocked me out with so many great songs in a short period of time. Even some of the soul music appealed to me. James Brown was Mr Cool.

If junk will make money, they'll sell it. I guess kids just don't know any better these days.

I don't expect people your age to like Opera and Classical, but you'd think they'd ignore this junk and discover oldies.

[sjssjc]

incredible voice...to think this was recorded when? 100+ years ago makes you think of what life was like then

[poligrapher]

wonderful

[churunmerun]

sencillamente REGIO.a jewerly .una joya

[bodiloto]

La perfezzione Enrico Caruso Sublime Inegualiabile***************in­finite Grazie !

[marctenor]

YES!

[stevevandien]

Wonderful to have these recordings of the young Caruso. The voice is perfectly balanced between dramatic and lyric; a LARGE lyrico-spinto with concurrent dramatic potential. Over the years, his voice darkened, grew larger and thereby became a true dramatic tenor --

[65attila]

Amazing - if he sounded better than any other tenor in a 1903 recording what did he sound like on stage?

Thanks for posting-John

[RiversideTenor]

Perhaps he was not sure which would sound better recorded. So he did one key as written, and then the other what he thought sounded better for his voice.