There Will Be Blood

Pietro Mascagni and Ruggiero Leoncavallo both made huge splashes with one-act operas; Mascagni with Cavalleria Rusticana (a scene from which is pictured) and Leoncavallo with his Pagliacci. Both operas are in the verismo style, meaning there's an emphasis on real-world characters and settings as opposed to the fantasy worlds of earlier operas, and both operas express this realism through faithless lovers, heartbreak and violence. These composers were sort of the Tarentinos of their time, one might say. Due to their brevity and matched story lines, Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci are often paired as an evening's entertainment, if your idea of entertainment involves murderous clowns and dishonored women. Teatro Lirico d'Europa presents Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci at 7:30 p.m. at the Touhill Performing Arts Center on the University of Missouri-St. Louis campus (1 University Drive at Natural Bridge Road; 314-516-4949 or www.touhill.org). Tickets are $25 to $45.
Wed., Oct. 15, 2008