Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliaci are operas you need to see
In the Melbourne leg of the ultimate coming together of two operas from two different composers, the emotion runs strong. Just watch the trailer above.
Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci explore the different, yet inimitably intertwining stories of a murder on Easter Sunday while a mother mourns, the loss of a son, a lover making her final position known and the deep heartbreak fuelled by boundless rage of a dysfunctional relationship. It’s a lot of suffering from the human condition to pack into one performance, but suffering that the leads Diego Torre, Dragana Radakovic and Anna Princeva so immaculately bring to the Melbourne Arts Centre this season.
Pagliacci is often easily associated with its most famed aria ‘Recitar! Vesti la giubba’. The tenor opens his heart about the hardship of being forced to paint his face and don his costume for the enjoyment of others whilst inside his heart is breaking because of the realities of his life. It’s quite moving and a piece of music that for its time was not only quite revolutionary, but something that tenor Diego Torre made history in performing recently this year at the Sydney Opera House, which you can read about here.
The two stories by Mascagni and Leoncavallo combine to tell a truly emotionally-charged tale of passionate love, consuming lust, bitter suffering and boundless rage; a story all too common through history to today that when played out on stage does nothing but reduce you. It’s a must-see this season by Opera Australia.
Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci is on ’til 20 May 2017 at the Arts Centre Melbourne. See more and purchase tickets here.
James Banham
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