At the age of 27, an unknown Italian bandmaster of a village brass band achieved one of the greatest triumphs in the history of opera. With this work, Pietro Mascagni founded musical verismo and became an influence on an entire generation of composers.
Ineggiamo – a great opera moment
The Easter hymn “‘Inneggiamo, il Signor non è morto” is one of the absolute highlights of the opera. Santuzza sings an Easter hymn in front of the church square and is accompanied by the choir singing inside the church.
Witness Maria Callas pouring her soul into the music, leading the voice to a heavenly high B-flat. This passage is very demanding for the singer, in “Ineggiamo” the singer has to sing great emotions over a sound carpet of a huge orchestra and choir.
Ineggiamo – Callas
Voi lo sapete – the great aria of Santuzza
The oboe begins painfully with the love motif:
But it sounds in a minor key and is immediately scared away by Santuzza’s emotions, which we hear in the fierce violin sounds.
Santuzza tells of her bitter situation and the jealousy motif appears. She tries to shoo away the thoughts of it, and the love motif now glows in a major key. But the dark thoughts return and the aria ends with the quotation of the jealousy motif.
Listen to Renata Tebaldi, an important interpreter of Santuzza. Renata Tebaldi sings the passage eerily haunting. The “angel’s voice” as she was called could musically portray suffering female characters with immense drama.
Voi lo sapete – Tebaldi
Mascagni’s famous Intermezzo
The Intermezzo takes us back to a Sicilian mood. It is a wonderful piece for string orchestra that has become world famous. With this piece Mascagni once again sets a point of rest before the catastrophe of the last part.
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