Pietro Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana; Ruggero Leoncavallo: Pagliacci [Video]

This program offers two back-to-back stage works, pulled from the canons of Italian opera and performed at the Zurich Opera House in 2009. It begins with an interpretation of Pietro Mascagni's 1890 one-act melodrama +Cavalleria Rusticana; this version stars Liliana Nikiteanu as Lola, Cheyne Davidson as Alfio and Irène Friedli as Lucia. The second production finds Boiko Zvetanov (as Peppe), Gabriel Bermúdez (as Silvio), and Carlo Guelfi (as Tonio) in a version of Ruggero Leoncavallo's 1892 two-act drama +Pagliacci . The Orchestra and Chorus of the Zurich Opera House provide musical accompaniment, with Stefano Ranzani conducting; Grischa Asagaroff directs both productions for the stage. Jürg Hämmerli serves as chorus master, and Luigi Perego designed the sets.