Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Verismo CD

An album of dramatic and passionate Preludes and Intermezzos from some of the most popular Italian operas, from Domingo Hindoyan and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Translations of works by early French and Russian realists, Stendahl, Pushkin and Balzac among them, crossed international borders to inspire new homegrown styles of literary realism. The trend took hold in Italy in the 1870s where it was promoted by the authors Luigi Capuana and Giovanni Verga under the banner of verismo, the Italian word for realism, and drew inspiration from the naturalism of ?mile Zola and his disciples. Verga's short story Cavalleria rusticana ('Rustic chivalry') and the play that arose from it set the foundations for a new wave of Italian operas, with Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana serving as the genre's enduring model.

1. Ponchielli: La Gioconda, Act III: Dance of the Hours 2. Puccini: Manon Lescaut, Act III: Intermezzo 3. Mascagni: L'amico Fritz: Intermezzo 4. Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana: Intermezzo 5. Puccini: Le Villi, Act II: The Witches' Sabbath "La Tregenda" 6. Leoncavallo: Pagliacci: Intermezzo 7. Wolf-Ferrari: Il Segreto Di Susanna Overture 8. Puccini: Suor Angelica - Intermezzo 9. Puccini: Edgar, Act III: Prelude 10. Mascagni: Le Maschere: Sinfonia 11. Wolf-Ferrari: The Jewels of the Madonna 12. Intermezzo No. 1 13. Serenata 14. Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur: Intermezzo 15. Puccini: Madama Butterfly, Act II: Prelude