RUSTIC CHIVALRY

I put aside Bach’s Easter Oratorio, Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony, and the soundtrack to MGM’s Easter Parade this Easter Sunday, and decided instead to dust off a recording of the famous one-act opera Cavalleria Rusticana (1890) by Pietro Mascagni [1863–1945], otherwise known as Rustic Chivalry. Most people know the opera because of its Intermezzo, famously used in the iconic title sequence of Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull (1980).

What I love about this short opera is how much atmosphere it packs into its relatively brief runtime (typically just over an hour), where its setting of sun-soaked rural Sicily, combined with religious ceremony and raw human passion, all fuse together in the epitome of what is known as verismo opera.

Verismo opera, which essentially means real stories of ordinary people, has a decidedly visceral quality that feels a bit like Tony Soprano grabbing you by the collar and giving you il bacio della morte, the kiss of death. It’s a genre of opera that goes well with coffee.

Strong black coffee. ☕

Another compelling feature of Cavalleria Rusticana is how it suggests the passage of time, from early Easter Sunday morning through to post-mass and the heat of the afternoon, where the intensity of the drama peaks, culminating in bloodshed and death before cooling in the shadow of the fading Sicilian sun. The genius of Mascagni was to contrast the ritual of sacred mass with the raw, all-too-human drama that unfolds outside the church, heightening the tension between faith and passion.

The ravishing Intermezzo then acts as a bridge halfway through the opera, marking a subtle shift in mood while also reflecting the emotional currents already established in the story and foreshadowing the final tragedy to come outside the church.

Of course, I could recommend numerous recordings of the opera to watch and listen to, but I’ve decided instead to share what I believe to be a definitive recording of the Intermezzo, conducted by Herbert von Karajan with the Orchestra of La Scala for Deutsche Grammophon, where he refines the old warhorse with a silvery coolness that eventually floods the ear with warm Italianate sunshine, as the main theme proves, once again, irresistible to any human heart that’s still beating.

Happy Easter Sunday!

Digital Renegade