Categories
20th Century Late Romantic Italian

MASCAGNI, Pietro

Born in Livorno, Dec 7, 1863
Died in Rome, Aug 2, 1945

  • Mascagni studied at the Milan Conservatory, where Puccini was his roommate.1
  • Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana marked the birth of a new style of opera – “verismo” (realism). While Puccini would ultimately become most famous for writing this opera style, Mascagni was responsible for its initiation into the musical vernacular.
  • In addition to his career as an opera composer, jumpstarted by Cavalleria rusticana, Mascagni had a second career where he conducted opera in Italy and throughout Europe.
  • Due to the composer’s association with Mussolini and his fascist regime later in his life, Mascagni’s music has largely been overshadowed by his Italian contemporaries (with the exception of Cavalleria rusticana).2

Sources

  1. Michele Girardi, “Mascagni, Pietro,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed August 29, 2023, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000017964.
  2. George Hall, “Composer of the Month: Pietro Mascagni,” BBC Music Magazine Vol. 25 No. 13 (2017): 78-82.

Pieces