Cavalleria rusticana first performed Rome, Teatro Castanzi, May 17, 1890
first performed by West Bay Opera Spring 1961

Pagliacci first performed Milan, Teatro dal Verme, May 21, 1892
first performed by West Bay Opera Spring 1963

• Small Company, Grand Passion (San Francisco Classical Voice, October 14, 2007)
• West Bay double bill a rewarding musical experience (The Almanac, October 16, 2007)
• Short operas a pair of stunners (San Mateo County Daily Journal, October 18, 2007)
• A double-header of lust and revenge (Palo Alto Weekly, October 19, 2007)

Southern Italian village life, dominated by a peculiar mix of Church morals and the Sicilian code of honor, provides the backdrop for these two verismo masterpieces about love and betrayal. In Cavalleria rusticana, tipped off by Santuzza, the betrayed and pregnant girlfriend, Alfio kills Turiddu, his wife’s lover, in a knife fight. In Pagliacci, blurring the line between performance and life, Canio the clown kills both Nedda, his wife, and Silvio, her lover, on the circus stage in front of a stunned audience.