Search - Mascagni, O'Neill, Miricioiu :: Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana

While occasionally the bel canto operas sound odd in English, here we have a verismo opera, which does not rely on the type of mellifluousness that bel canto requires. The translations avoid silly archaisms and convey the flavor of the dramas vividly. Turiddu's "The very sight of you disgusts me" weighs even more than "I pay no attention to your anger," which could have very easily been substituted. Dennis O'Neill is the Turiddu--his diction is exemplary, and the strain put on his voice at forte above the staff seems to suit the character. The wonderful Nelly Miricioiu is a fine Santuzza, but the role requires, at times, a fiercer middle register and more ferocious exclamatory skills than she can muster. Phillip Joll's Alfio is fittingly crude: he makes the best of his duet with Santuzza. David Parry never rushes the action (this is the slowest Cav on the market), but he leads with an inner tension that guides the work to its inevitable tragic conclusion. The other cast members, the Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, and the London Philharmonic are all first-rate. --Robert Levine