Cavalleria rusticana – Gianni Schicchi

In the organizer's words:

Melodramatic tragedy and satirical comedy - on this evening, two short Italian opera classics revolve around lived double standards and the question of why we keep doing things that we actually know are wrong: Mascagni's tragic love triangle Cavalleria rusticana is set in a poor, rural community that upholds strict Catholic values but stands idly by as a barbaric, archaic duel to the death takes place between a betrayed husband and his wife's lover.

Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, on the other hand, is a hilarious hereditary comedy. In it, the title character takes on the role of a recently deceased man in order to change the will at the request of his greedy family. Along the way, Schicchi's daughter Lauretta fights to be allowed to marry Rinuccio (one of the relatives) with the aria hit "O mio babbino caro". Of course, the devious title character doesn't want to go home without a fair share of the inheritance. Puccini's expressionistic music exposes the hypocritical family's insincerity with bitter humor.