Mascagni, Pietro. (1863-1945)
Autograph Musical Quotation, "Cavalleria Rusticana."
A very fine AMQS from one of the most popular of all Italian operas. The composer has penned 4 measures from his "Cavalleria Rusticana," identifying them as from the opera and including the text "Fior di Giaggiolo...," inscribing to "Madame la Baronne de Reinach" as a "Souvenir de Frankfurt," signing boldly beneath and dating "14-10-'95." Sold together with a vintage postcard photograph of the composer at the piano.Cavalleria Rusticana is the most well-known work of the composer who wrote 15 additional operas. The publisher Sonzogno announced a competition in July of 1888, open to all young Italian composers who had not yet had an opera performed on stage. Mascagni apparently had not heard of the competition until only two months before its closing date, but found his librettists and completed the work in time for submission on the final day of the competition. The opera won and was first performed in Rome at the Teatro Costanzi on May 17, 1890 with Mascagni apparently taking 40 curtain calls on opening night. It has since remained one of the most beloved of all Italian operas, frequently paired in a so-called "Cav/Pag" double-bill with Leoncavallo's Pagliacci. (7902)
AMQS Opera