Pietro Mascagni Pietro Mascagni Pietro Antonio Stefano Mascagni (; 7 December 1863 – 2 August 1945) was an Italian composer most noted for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece "Cavalleria Rusticana" caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the "Verismo" movement in Italian dramatic music. While it was often held that Mascagni, like Leoncavallo, was a "one-opera man" who could never repeat his first success, "L'amico Fritz" and "Iris" have remained in the repertoire in Europe (especially Italy) since their premieres. Mascagni said that at one point, "Iris" was performed in Italy more often than "Cavalleria" (cf.
José Cura Rusticana" and "Pagliacci" at the Met in New York, and "Turandot", "Cavalleria rusticana" and "Pagliacci" in Zurich. Cura continues to tour concert halls and opera houses around the world, performing his signature roles of Otello, Samson, Canio, Turiddu, Don José, Stiffelio, Cavaradossi, Dick Johnson, Calaf, Edgar etc. – debuting in "La Bohème" as Rodolfo at the Zurich Opera House in 2010. He took his "Otello" to the Met in 2013, not before saving the last performance of "Carmen" at the same opera house, a favour which he had been asked to do the very moment he landed in New York,