There is no shortage of the times that Italians have made cultural history, starting with the Ancient Romans, to the Renaissance to the Golden Age of Opera, throughout history. Literarily thousands of times. But when it does happen it still sounds good, like beautiful operatic music. On February 7, 2007, Salvatore Licitra sang two operas in one program, only the seventh tenor in Metropolitan Opera History to do so since its inception in 1883, 125 years ago.However, on February 10, 2007, Licitra was the first tenor to do the two operas on a Met radio broadcast all over the world. The two operas were Cavalleria Rusticana and the more known Pagliacci. Also referred to as “CAV” and “PAG”, the two short operas are often given together on the same bill, with Cavalleria first and Pagliacci second, but typically with two different tenors. While they may be short in length, not so for the respective tenor roles, especially the second one, Pagliacci.
These operas represented a new school of opera know as “Verismo” as opposed to the previous schools of Romanticism and Classical. Verismo (realism or naturalism) represents real stories with real people. Cavalleria Rusticana (Rustic Chivalry) all happens on Easter Sunday in a small Sicilian village. The peace of the holyday is contrasted with the stormy emotions of the principal characters of jealousy, infidelity and vengeance. Cavalleria won first prize in a contest for a one-act opera in 1890; was a huge sensation and made its impoverished composer, Pietro Mascasgni, famous and rich (he deserved it!). As a side note, Salvatore Licitra is Sicilian and when interviewed about singing this opera based on a Sicilian story, he said it’s in his DNA (and right he was).
The second opera, Pagliacci (the players) happens in a village in Calabria with the same intense human emotions as Cavalleria, but even more so. It contains one of the most famous tenor arias in the operatic repertoire, Vesti La Giubba (on with the show), which is Canio’s very poignant lament when he discovers his young wife’s unfaithfulness. The composer, Ruggiero Leoncavallo also composed the delightful Italian song, Mattinata.
OK, how did Licitra do? I must admit there was some apprehension. Remember, he became most famous when, in 2002 at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, he substituted for Luciano Pavorotti at the last minute in Puccini’s Tosca. While he did well and was well received, there was still uncertainty if his career would take off. Last year in a Met broadcast of Verdi’s opera, La Forza Del Destino, he was tentative and had some difficulty with the role. Well not here! Salvatore, indeed, did his homework and was well prepared to take on these two operas together, a feat that most tenors do not want to risk.
While these are two one act operas, the tenor roles are extremely impassionate and call for sustained dramatic singing, especially Pagliacci. Years ago an old friend of mine said, “If they would have made Pagliacci any longer the tenor would have died.” But not only did Salvatore undertake them, he also did them with vocal ease along with power, tonal quality and dramatic interpretation. A huge success! Early in the opera, Pagliacci, when the lead character, Canio, invites the people to see the play later that evening (“A Venti Tre Ore”), the tenor must hit a high B natural, and done right, it is a bolt of excitement for the listener. Licitra did it in big ringing fashion and my father and I responded with that kind of excitement.
More recently, he sang Puccini’s Il Tabarro (“The Cloak), which too is from the Verismo school of high emotion, and vocally demanding for the tenor. Licitra again blew the lid off. It sounds like we have that much needed dramatic Italian tenor. As Andrea Bocelli simply says, “The best singers are Italian”. With the likes of Salvatore Licitra (and Bocelli) and many others before, and I’m sure will be after, who cannot agree!
