Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana and Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, two pillars of verismo opera, are filled with undeniable passion, elevating even the most mundane aspects of life through musically sublime expression.

Director Aik Karapetian’s new production of Cavalleria rusticana revives the idyllic life of a Sicilian village – just as it becomes tainted by betrayal and jealousy. The peasant girl Santuzza has her heart broken by her fiancé, Turiddu, who is infatuated with Lola, the beautiful wife of the wealthy Alfio. In her despair, Santuzza reveals the affair to Alfio, setting the stage for his inevitable revenge.

Pagliacci was brought to the Latvian National Opera stage by Karapetian in 2019. In this opera, love and betrayal weave through the public and private lives of a travelling commedia dell'arte troupe. The tension builds to a devastating climax when Canio, the troupe’s leader, discovers his wife Nedda’s affair. His heartache cannot be contained by performance alone, leading to a tragic onstage reckoning, witnessed by an unsuspecting audience.