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
Pagliacci (1982 film) Although they were filmed together, the "Pagliacci" recording was originally released separately from the soundtrack for "Cavalleria rusticana". Pagliacci (1982 film) Pagliacci is a 1982 Italian film of Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera "Pagliacci", directed by Franco Zeffirelli. All the actors, including Plácido Domingo and Teresa Stratas in the starring roles, were opera singers who sang their own parts. "Pagliacci" was shot at Milan's La Scala opera house and on a movie sound stage. Georges Prêtre conducted the Orchestra and Choir of La Scala. The film was screened out of competition at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. It was also shown on