Librettist

Pietro Mascagni​

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Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from an 1880 short story of the same name, and subsequent play by Giovanni Verga.

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Place: Nightfall, IN

Time: Easter morning, 1946

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In the opening scene, Turiddu is heard praising Lola. Santuzza witnesses Lola’s joy upon hearing Turiddu’s song. Set on Easter Sunday, 1946, in the quaint coal mining town of Nightfall, IN, in the first weeks of the coal miners’ labor strike that rocked the nation.  The people of the town support the strike, and the Salvator Mining Company has all but closed the company town down – no supplies, no electricity, no pay; the people of Nightfall are rallying to get through this time together however they can in the midst of an unseasonal heat wave. Alfio enters, extolling the pleasures of his wandering life as a wagoner and boasting publicly of his love for Lola and of her fidelity.

Santuzza leaves her house to go to Easter Mass, but she is prevented from entering the church. She has been excommunicated for her affair with Turiddu. Santuzza confides in Mamma Lucia, telling her all that has happened. When Turridu arrives, Santuzza accosts him. He tries in vain to deny his affair with Lola, when she purposefully passes in front of them, leading to a caustic exchange between the two women. Santuzza and Turiddu engage in a storm of recriminations, before Santuzza curses him. Horrified and afraid, Turiddu breaks away and goes into church.

Santuzza reveals to Alfio that his wife has been unfaithful to him, before realizing that Alfio’s fury will doom them all. As worshippers emerge from church, Turiddu publicly toasts Lola’s “loves.”  Alfio and Turiddu agree to a duel. To shield Santuzza from future recrimination, Turiddu tells everyone that he had promised to marry her to restore her honor. Turiddu bids farewell to his mother and leaves. Santuzza delivers the news that Turiddu has been killed.