Pietro Mascagni was born on December 7, 1863, and died on August 2, 1945. He was an Italian composer best known for writing operas. His most famous work, Cavalleria rusticana, was created in 1890 and had a major impact on opera history. This opera helped start the Verismo movement, which focused on realistic stories in Italian dramatic music. Although some people believed Mascagni, like Ruggero Leoncavallo, could only create one successful opera, two of his other works, L'amico Fritz and Iris, have remained popular in Europe, especially in Italy, since they were first performed.

Mascagni composed fifteen operas, one operetta, and many orchestral and vocal pieces. He also wrote songs and piano music. During his lifetime, he was very successful as both a composer and a conductor of his own and others’ music. His operas showed a wide range of musical styles.

Biography

Pietro Mascagni was born on 7 December 1863 in Livorno, Tuscany. He was the second son of Domenico and Emilia Mascagni. His father owned and ran a bakery. Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti, also known as "Nanni," was born in the same year and city. He became Mascagni's lifelong friend and collaborator.

In 1876, at age 13, Mascagni began studying music with Alfredo Soffredini. Soffredini founded the Instituto Musicale di Livorno, later renamed Istituto Cherubini. Soffredini had recently finished his own musical studies in Milan. He was also from Livorno and worked as a composer, teacher, and music critic. Mascagni started composing quickly. Between 1879 and 1880, he wrote several works, including Sinfonia in do minore, Prima sinfonia in fa maggiore, Elegia, Kyrie, Gloria, and Ave Maria.

The premiere of Mascagni's first cantata, In Filanda, happened at Istituto Cherubini on 9 February 1881. The cantata was performed at a musical contest in Milan and won first prize. That same year, Mascagni met musicians Arrigo Boito and Amilcare Ponchielli.

In 1882, Mascagni composed Cantata alla gioia, based on a text by Friedrich Schiller. He also wrote L’Ottava Nota, a cantata for a competition. Later, he composed L’Incontro, a cantata for a theater in Rome.

In 1883, Mascagni moved to Rome to study at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia. He continued composing and performing. In 1884, he wrote La Pioggia nel Riso, an opera for a theater in Rome. The opera was performed in

Selected works

• Cavalleria rusticana (17 May 1890, Teatro Costanzi, Rome)
• L'amico Fritz (31 October 1891, Teatro Costanzi, Rome)
• I Rantzau (10 November 1892, Teatro La Pergola, Florence)
• Guglielmo Ratcliff (16 February 1895, Teatro alla Scala, Milan), written between 1885 and the early 1890s
• Silvano (25 March 1895, Teatro alla Scala, Milan)
• Zanetto (2 March 1896, Liceo Musicale, Pesaro)
• Iris (22 November 1898, Teatro Costanzi, Rome)
• Le maschere (17 January 1901, Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa – Teatro Regio, Turin – Teatro alla Scala, Milan – Teatro La Fenice, Venice – Teatro Filarmonico, Verona – Teatro Costanzi, Rome)
• Amica (16 March 1905, Monte Carlo, in French)
• Isabeau (2 June 1911, Teatro Coliseo, Buenos Aires)
• Parisina (15 December 1913, Teatro alla Scala, Milan)
• Lodoletta (30 April 1917, Teatro Costanzi, Rome)
• Il piccolo Marat (2 May 1921, Teatro Costanzi, Rome)
• Pinotta (23 March 1932, Casinò, San Remo), based on the cantata In filanda (1881)
• Nerone (16 January 1935, Teatro alla Scala, Milan), with music written between the 1890s and the 1930s

• Sì (13 December 1919, Teatro Quirino, Rome)

• Messa di Gloria in F major for soloists, chorus, and orchestra (1888)

• A Giacomo Leopardi, cantata for soprano and orchestra (19 June 1898, Teatro Persiani, Recanati)
• Il re a Napoli, romanza for tenor and orchestra (18 March 1885, Teatro Municipale, Cremona)

During his long career, Mascagni planned to write many operas. The following is a list of some projects that were never completed:

• Zilia, probably on a libretto by Felice Romani (c. 1877)
• Scampolo, probably on a libretto by Dario Niccodemi (c. 1921)
• I Bianchi ed i Neri, on a libretto by Mario Ghisalberti (c. 1938)

In other media

The 1980 film Raging Bull includes music from three pieces: the Intermezzo from Cavalleria rusticana, the Barcarolle from Silvano, and the Intermezzo from Guglielmo Ratcliff (also known as Il sogno di Ratcliff).

The 1990 film The Godfather Part III uses a performance of Cavalleria rusticana at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo as the setting for its final scene. In this scene, Michael Corleone’s son, Anthony, plays the role of Turiddu. The film concludes with the Intermezzo from Cavalleria rusticana playing.