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
Chelsea Opera and received critical acclaim from "Opera News": the operas "had great appeal both to old opera hands and to first-time operagoers." Each season now includes multiple offerings within its concert series, "Chelsea Opera presents…", a series of thematic concerts featuring the company’s principal singers and guest artists, whose number now exceeds 400 who have performed principal roles, sung in the ensemble, been involved in design/production, and played in the Chelsea Opera Chamber Orchestra (“COCO”). Chelsea Opera’s performances to date have included "Suor Angelica", "Amahl and the Night Visitors" (also given an encore presentation in November 2009), "Cavalleria Rusticana", "Pagliacci", "Don