Cavalleria rusticana sensation, with Mascagni taking 40 curtain calls and winning the First Prize. Although Mascagni had started writing two other operas earlier ("Pinotta", premiered in 1932, and "Guglielmo Ratcliff", premiered in 1895), "Cavalleria rusticana" was his first opera to be completed and performed. It remains the best known of his fifteen operas and one operetta ("Sì" ). Apart from "Cavalleria rusticana", only "Iris" and "L'amico Fritz" have remained in the standard repertory, with "Isabeau" and "Il piccolo Marat" on the fringes of the Italian repertoire. Its success has been phenomenal ever since its first performance. At the time of Mascagni's death
Audrey Babcock Audrey Babcock Audrey Babcock is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer who has performed in many opera houses throughout the world. She performed the Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana at the Washington Concert Opera. Babcock sang the role of Maddalena in Verdi's "Rigoletto" for Boston Lyric Opera in March 2014. She sang in the first professional staging of Daniel Crozier's opera "With Blood, With Ink" in April 2014 at the Fort Worth Opera. Babcock has frequently performed the title role in Bizet's opera "Carmen", notably in 2008 at the San Antonio Opera, 2009 at the Utah Festival Opera, and in 2012 at