Francesco Cilea Pubblica Istruzione (Department of Education). In 1889, for his final examination at the end of his course of study, he submitted his opera "Gina", with a libretto by Enrico Golisciani which was adapted from the old French play "Catherine, ou La Croix d'or" by Baron Anne-Honoré-Joseph Duveyrier de Mélésville (1787—1865). This "melodramma idilico" was performed in the college theatre, and it attracted the attention of the publishers Sonzogno, who arranged for a second production, in Florence, in 1892. Sonzogno also then commissioned from Cilea "La Tilda", a verismo opera in three short acts along the lines of Mascagni's "Cavalleria rusticana".
Cavalleria rusticana had married the carter Alfio while Turiddu was away. In revenge, Turiddu had seduced Santuzza, a young woman in the village. As the opera begins, Lola, overcome by her jealousy of Santuzza, has begun an adulterous affair with Turiddu. "The main square of the village" Offstage, Turiddu is heard singing a siciliana, "O Lola c'hai di latti la cammisa" ("O Lola! like the snow, pure in thy whiteness!"). To one side is the church; to the other is Lucia's wine shop and the house where she lives with her son, Turiddu. The villagers move about the square, singing of the