Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci

The durable double bill of the titular verismo one-act operas by Mascagni and Leoncavallo receives stellar treatment in this 2016 production from the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. Director Damiano Michieletto situates both operas as contemporary tales occurring simultaneously in a rural Italian village, using the intermezzos in each to add clever references to the events of the companion piece, and Paolo Fantin's revolving set offers a naturalistic view of the main street, along with the interiors of a bakery for Cavalleria Rusticana (with plenty of dough-kneading) and a community center where Pagliacci is performed. Conductor Antonio Pappano is entirely at home with the scores, and he secures impassioned playing from the orchestra and equally vivid singing from the chorus. Appearing in both works is the commanding tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko, who in Cavalleria Rusticana plays Turiddu, a lascivious fellow whose dalliance with two women, Santuzza and Lola, leads to his death at the hands of Lola's husband Alfio, and in Pagliacci is Canio, leader of an acting troupe, who as Pagliacci kills his unfaithful wife Nedda and her lover Silvio onstage. Antonenko is well matched by the other vocalists—Eva-Maria Westbroek (Santuzza), Martina Belli (Lola), Dimitri Platanias (Alfio), Carmen Giannattasio (Nedda), and Dionysios Sourbis (Silvio)—as well as Elena Zilio, who movingly conveys the pain of Turiddu's mother, Mamma Lucia. Presented in DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital stereo on DVD, and Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD 5.1, and LPCM stereo on Blu-ray, extras include an interview with Pappano, introductions to the operas, and cast galleries. Highly recommended. (F. Swietek)