Cav/Pag roils with Italian Passion at Lyric

You know you are a real opera fan if you know what Cav/Pag IS and you can’t wait to see it.  Guilty as charged! So let me introduce you: Cav/Pag is a kind of traditional opera double header: Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni and Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo– two one act operas set in Italy and giving a kind of The Soprano’s vibe: passions that erupt in violence and “honor” that necessitates killing. In the 1890’s, in Italy there was a push to innovate in opera, and these two offerings “stuck” and became beloved classics. 

The Lyric production, originally directed by Elijah Moshinsky, was first seen in Chicago in 2002, revived in 2009, and back again now and not to be missed. Cavalleria is set in an Italian village in the late 1800’s where everyone knows everyone else and the whole village knows that Turiddu ( sung as a real dandy by SeokJong Baek in his Lyric debut) is having an affair with the luscious Lola ( the bright and enticing Camille Robles) who is Alfio’s wife. (Alfio is sung by the imposing Quinn Kelsey, a Chicago favorite) Lola and Turiddu were a thing before he enlisted and went off to soldier. Turiddu had taken up with Santuzza (sung by Yulia Matochkina, an achingly lovely mezzo making her Lyric debut) who shows up looking for him because she is pregnant and excommunicated.   Alfio is a big man in town and travels with a posse and he does not take well to a rival.  He “eliminates” the problem.  One of the wonderful things about this opera is that the chorus and a gaggle of supernumeraries (extras) create this tight knit nosy community that becomes a main character.  And the music for the chorus is amazing: a wash of sound that celebrates Easter and comments on the goings on of the town. 

Then there's a healthy half hour intermission to meet and mingle and we are back, pushed forward in time to postwar Italy for Pagliacci. Kelsey returns in this show as Tonio the clown who will prove to be a toxic presence. He has a prologue in front of the velvet curtains before it opens on a stark landscape.  Again the townsfolk form a kind of character that represents witness to the unraveling of Canio, the leader of a troupe of roving performers who arrive in a battered truck that becomes a stage each night for a Commedia show about a cheating wife.  Canio, who in the show within a show plays Pagliacci the Clown, is sung by Russell Thomas, the intense tenor that has frequented this stage. Canio has been a signature role for everyone from Enrico Caruso to Luciano Pavarotti.  Pagliacci  was also the first complete opera to ever be recorded.  Russell shows us the madness, the raging jealousy that causes him to murder his wife Nedda as part of the play in front of a huge audience because she is planning to escape with her lover Beppe. Nedda is the star of the play within a play: as Columbina she is one of the main attractions the villagers come to see. Sung by the delightful Gabriella Reyes, Nedda is a woman trying to break free of a limiting situation.

In both operas, jeolous rage and the idea of upholding honor lead to senseless murders.  This kind of tale and these operas were part of a late 19th century movement or style called Verisimo where stories were gritty and filled with passion that often concluded in violence.  It made the music grand but I wouldn’t want to live in either of these villages.   I did feel like I got a little jaunt to another time and world while sitting in the opera house.  And Lyric music director and this show’s conductor Enrique Mazzola made sure this music soared and spread the emotion into our hearts.  Experience these emotional classics and feel like an opera insider as this beautiful music takes you away.

Cav/Pag is playing November 4,7,9th, 12th, 15th,20th, and 23rd at the Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Wacker. Run to the opera house and join the club of people who love this dynamic Italian double feature. For tickets and related content and information go to  https://www.lyricopera.org/shows/upcoming/2025-26/cavalleria-rusticana-pagliacci/  

 No part of this review was created using AI

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