Twin operas from Italy

At the end of Pagliacci, Canio kills his unfaithful wife Nedda in a fit of rage.

In China, this opera is known to the public by its symphonic intermezzo, which was used prominently in the Chinese film In

From 'educated youth' to national treasure

Chinese musical FleetingCloudsdebuts in Edinburgh

the Heat of the Sun (1994). It conveys an amorous feeling new to adolescence, which is central to the main character in the movie.

The plots of Cav/Pag - as the double bill is popularly known in its short form - uncannily mirror each other. In Cav, a jilted girlfriend takes revenge on her disloyal man, and in Pag it is the tormented husband who ends up killing his wife and her lover.

In terms of style, verismo - of which the two operas are representatives - has gained less exposure in China than, say, even some baroque operas. Of course, that will require you to exclude Puccini, who is indisputably the reigning king on the NCPA opera stage.

NCPA's Cav/Pag backed up its traditional stage design with solid casting. The foreign cast that I heard was very strong, with Violeta Urmana playing the female lead Santuzza in Cav and bringing a shining ray of star power. The Turiddu of Jorge de Leon and the Alfio of Luca Grassi were equally strong.

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