Cavalleria rusticana & Pagliacci by Mascagni, Leoncavallo, Sun 29 May 2016, From (2016/2016), Directed by Elijah Moshinsky, Conductor Carlo Rizzi, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, United Kingdom

This double bill is full-on and intense as Italian opera gets; each opera packing-in much high drama and powerful music – in just over an hour. In Summer 2016, marking 70 years of WNO was a time to reflect. What better way to do this than with the double bill that started it all? This perfect pairing of tragedies was our first performance in 1946. Cav & Pag (as they are affectionately known) are as full-on and intense as Italian opera gets. Each opera packs-in much high drama and powerful music in just over an hour. Cavalleria rusticana’s highlights include the glorious Easter Hymn and Intermezzo. Pagliacci features one of the greatest of all tenor arias, ‘Vesti la giubba’, in which the clown Canio has just learnt that his wife is having an affair. He pitifully dwells on his situation while getting ready to take to the stage. He must act the fool on stage while dying inside. The sumptuous period-set production features a recreation of a Sicilian village square. It is only fitting that the cast for these birthday performances includes some of Wales’s greatest opera talent. Everyone who enjoys the elegance and pageantry of opera will want to embrace Cav & Pag.