Cavalleria rusticana on stage. They were invited to submit a one-act opera which would be judged by a jury of five prominent Italian critics and composers. The best three would be staged in Rome at Sonzogno's expense. Mascagni heard about the competition only two months before the closing date and asked his friend Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti, a poet and professor of literature at the Italian Royal Naval Academy in Livorno, to provide a libretto. Targioni-Tozzetti chose "Cavalleria rusticana", a popular short story (and play) by Giovanni Verga, as the basis for the opera. He and his colleague Guido Menasci set about composing the
Edinburgh Opera Company 16, 18 May 1923)," "Meyerbeer's "The Huguenots" (Royal Lyceum Theatre 15, 17, 19 May 1923); "Bohemian Girl", "Cavalleria Rusticana", "Trial by Jury" and "The Jolly Beggers" (Royal Lyceum, 1931); "Yeoman of the Guard, Jeannie Deans" (King’s Theatre 1934); "Orpheus" (Gateway Theatre 1958); "Faust" (Gateway Theatre 1959); "Semele" (Gateway Theatre 1960); "Der Freischutz" (Gateway Theatre 1961); "L'elisir d’amore" (Gateway Theatre 1962); "The Bartered Bride" (Gateway Theatre 1963); "Flying Dutchman" (Royal Lyceum Theatre 1979). Edinburgh Opera Company "Not to be confused with Edinburgh Grand Opera". Edinburgh Opera Company was an opera company which existed in Edinburgh during the 20th century from around