I like Cavalleria Rusticana, which opera should I try next?
None of Mascagni’s other operas really resembles Cavalleria rusticana. As a matter of fact, Mascagni’s operas are all very different from each other, even though they all share a very distinctive style unique to Mascagni’s music. This being said, Mascagni.org recommends L’amico Fritz and Iris first, because they are very accessible operas, of excellent musical quality and reputation, and very good recordings of both are available (see here and here for L’amico Fritz and here for Iris). Parisina, arguably Mascagni’s absolute masterpiece, should not be missed, but it requires patience to really appreciate it, and the only good quality recording has numerous cuts and lacks the last act entirely. Il piccolo Marat is another masterpiece, also difficult to appreciate at first. Guglielmo Ratcliff, Mascagni’s first and favorite opera, Isabeau, Le Maschere, Zanetto, Lodoletta, Amica, are all worth listening to. Silvano is very disappointing as an opera, but at the same time contains very beauti
