By Inna Pilevich:
The National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theatre of the Republic of Belarus stages Pietro Mascagni’s timeless Cavalieria Rusticana (Rustic chivalry). The opera premieres on 30 April.
It is one of the most popular operas in the world. New York’s Metropolitan Opera alone staged it 650 times. The music from the masterpiece can be heard in Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather. An asteroid was named after one of the characters of the opera.
Great efforts were made by the theatre’s staff prior to the premiere. Principal Set Designer of the Bolshoi Theatre Alexander Kostiuchenko updated the staging. The events in the opera unfold in Sicily, in a small village in the early 1920s, so the staging reflects the bright Italian sun and the endless blue sky. The story takes place on an Easter morning, so a small church will become part of the staging, too. Also, the costumes were renovated, and new elements were added. The costumes for Turiddu, Lola, and Lucia are entirely new.
Principal Stage Director of the Bolshoi Theatre and the opera’s director Mikhail Pandzhavidze says there will be no romance or glorification in the opera. The story remains unaltered. It’s a drama about a corrupted society with abhorrent morals. It is an Easter story of love and adultery, a story of double morals – the protagonists pray and then they sin. Church music and folk melodies serve as the background for the dramatic conflict.
The classical masterpiece will be performed in Italian.












