Pietro Mascagni, Ruggero Leoncavallo l Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci

Two one-act operas in one performance on the stage of the Margaret Island Theatre!

Since their birth, The Peasant's Honor and The Bajazzó have often been performed together, offering the audience a full-length opera experience. Despite the fact that they are not directly related musically and historically, they complement each other perfectly due to their thematic similarities. Both operas are set in rural Italy, and the focus is on jealousy, love, revenge and honor, which lead to a fatal tragedy.

The Peasant's Honor was written by Mascagni for a competition and quickly became a great success.

When Turiddu returns from the military to Sicily, he sees his beloved as Alfio's wife. Despite this, they rekindle their relationship, and Alfio challenges Turiddu to a duel, who dies in the clash. The work was first performed in Rome in 1890. It was also performed by the Hungarian public in the same year, with the Hungarian Royal Opera House performance conducted by composer Gustav Mahler.

Leoncavallo wrote The Bajazzos for the same competition for which Mascagni wrote The Peasant's Honor. The Bajazzos follows the 'play within the play' principle, and is about a play steeped in tragedy. The title also hints at this, as the bajazzo is the Italian name for the cheerful clown of the commedia dell'arte. The premiere of The Bajazzos in 1982 was conducted by one of the most talented conductors of all time, Arturo Toscanini. The two pieces have in common the naturalistic style of representation, presenting the problems of flesh-and-blood characters as an everyday story.

Program and cast

Main roles: Zsuzsa Barabás, László Boldizsár, Maria Farkasréti

Featuring: Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra,, Debrecen Kodály Choir

Conductor: Zsolt Jankó