Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana.(Book Review)

MASCAGNI: Cavalleria Rusticana

Varnay, Scholl, Munch; Hopf, Pease; Chorus and Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio, Sawallisch. No libretto. Myto 042086 (1)

It would be a stretch to call this melodiously sordid slice of life autentico, but it certainly is echt. In this historic recording of Cavalleria Rusticana, the verismo emerges emphatically veristisch, and in its weird way it's quite wonderful.

The performance in question, a broadcast from Munich, took place in 1954. In those supposedly bad old days, German companies habitually performed opera in German, regardless of origin and regardless of the nationality of the performers. Those, of course, were the days before simultaneous translation projections became lingua franca, the days when audiences actually were expected to listen to the words. And those were the days when singers--the good ones, at least--treated the text as if it were as important as the music. Well, nearly as important.

It all happens here. Santuzza is sung by a great Brunnhilde, Turiddu by a mighty Siegfried, Alfio by a sometime Wotan. The declamation, not surprisingly, is heroic, the language initially jolting, the style a bit stolid. Ultimately, however, it hardly matters. The communication remains vital, the commitment to the drama fierce.

The central attraction must be ...