The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra selected Cavalleria Rusticana as its opera for the 2024-25 season, and the results were six successful performances. Maestro Leonardo Sini, first-prize winner in the 2017 prestigious Solti International Conducting Competition, masterfully handled the podium and created concerts that enthralled the audience.
Sini is a youthful professional of high caliber who moved with grace, attention, and precision. Precise timing and coordination of the participants are the essence of opera productions, and Sini unified the orchestra, soloists, and chorus with skill. He made sure there was time for smooth entrances and created seamless changes in moods and tempi.
In 1890, Cavalleria Rusticana premiered in Rome and was a success. Composed by Pietro Mascagni with the libretto written by Giovanni Targioni-Tezzitt, it follows the plot of a popular play.
During Mascagni’s life (1863-1945) it is recorded to have been performed thousands of times all over the world. Written in the verismo style and filled with romantic, musically soaring arias and dramatic scenes, Cavalleria Rusticana is well known and loved.
It was unusual to see this short, semi-staged opera performed with the IPO sharing the stage with the singers and chorus. The soloists moved smoothly across the front of the stage, appearing next to the orchestra, and up on the risers near the Israel Opera Chorus (conducted by Itay Berkovich from the organ). However, they never crowded or interfered with each other but, rather, complimented each other’s presence. Director Shirit Lee Weiss carefully planned the movements of each soloist, their placement and actions, and it captured the attention of the audience.
Cavalleria Rusticana opens on Easter morning in the 18th century in a small Sicilian village and tells the stories of two cases of romantic infidelity.
The opera begins with the tenor Turiddu (Stefano la Colla), returning from the army, only to find his lover, Lola (mezzo soprano Anat Czerny), has betrayed him and married the wealthy Alfio (Marco Caria, baritone). Turiddu plans revenge and seduces the beautiful peasant girl Santuzza (Maria Teresa Leva). However, after a little persuasion, he returns to the arms of his former lover Lola and leaves Santuzza despondent, as she explains to Turiddu’s mother, Lucia (Rona Shrira, contralto), the difficulties of their amorous relationship.
The evening’s program was carefully constructed to give the audience the feeling of a night at the opera. One entered Tel Aviv’s Charles Bronfman Auditorium to something different, a stage lit by subdued lighting and a background of wooden lattice.
Opening number of the evening
The evening opened with Capriccio italien, by Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky, capturing the mood of Italy in the late 1800s. Tchaikovsky wrote the piece after a trip to Italy in 1880 with his brother, and the piece sounds different from his other works. It is a dramatic piece, replete with Italian street music and folk tunes. Even the sounds of the trumpet call, which the two young men heard every morning in their hotel room next to the army barracks of the Italian royal Cuirassiers, has its place.
Next on the program was La Giara, Suite Sinfonica Op. 41 for tenor voice and orchestra, written by Italian composer Alfredo Casella. It is a piece that continues with the flow of mood and style of Italian music of this period. It also gave the opportunity to meet the beautifully voiced tenor Stefano La Colla, who would later in the evening be one of the stars in the performance of Cavalleria Rusticana.
From the start, the IPO sounded different under the baton of Sini, who evoked the versatile sound capabilities of the orchestra and turned it into an Italian opera ensemble.
Remarkably, this was a night of firsts. It was the first time Cavalleria Rusticana (Rustic Chivalry) was performed by the IPO. Although soprano Maria Teresa Leva has performed with the IPO previously, it was IPO premier performances for the other four soloists.
Each demonstrated fine vocal skills coupled with skilled acting. Special kudos to tenor La Colla in “Adio alla Madre,” and to soprano Maria Teresa Leva in her grand aria of remorse regarding her unhappy liaison with Turiddu.
Translation of the libretto appeared overhead in English and Hebrew, making it easy to follow the plot.
In essence, the dramatic and musically passionate qualities of the IPO’s Cavalleria Rusticana made this evening quite memorable. It was truly a night at the opera.