Verismo (music) of the poor, that had not generally been seen as a fit subject for literature. A short story by Verga called "Cavalleria rusticana" (), then developed into a play by the same author, became the source for what is usually considered to be the first "verismo" opera: "Cavalleria rusticana" by Mascagni, which premiered on 17 May 1890 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. Thus begun, the operatic genre of "verismo" produced a handful of notable works such as "Pagliacci", which premiered at Teatro Dal Verme in Milan on 21 May 1892, and Puccini's "Tosca" (premiering at the Teatro Costanzi in
Vyacheslav Polozov "Cavalleria rusticana" opposite Makvala Kasrashvili and Elena Obraztsova. In 1983, he made his debut in the role of Faust at the Lithuanian National Opera opposite and Irena Milkeviciute. In 1984, he made debut for the role of the Duke of Mantua at the Bulgarian National Opera and Lensky at the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre. In 1984, he performed the role of Alfredo at the Estonian National Opera and Latvian National Opera. In January 1986, another great success followed - Polozov's debut at the Teatro alla Scala in Milano where he sang the role of Pinkerton, which very soon became,