Cavalleria rusticana of "The Godfather Part III", which also featured a performance of the opera as a key part of the film's climax. Cavalleria rusticana Cavalleria rusticana (; Italian for "rustic chivalry") is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from an 1880 and subsequent play by Giovanni Verga. Considered one of the classic "verismo" operas, it premiered on 17 May 1890 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. Since 1893, it has often been performed in a so-called "Cav/Pag" double-bill with "Pagliacci" by Ruggero Leoncavallo. In July 1888 the Milanese
Arrigo Pola next three years in the Philippines. Among the roles Pola sang with the Manila Opera were Canio in "Pagliacci", Manrico in "Il trovatore", Rodolfo in "La bohème", and Turiddu in "Cavalleria rusticana". In 1954, Pola returned to Italy with the hopes of reviving his opera career in Italy; an attempt which never gained much momentum. That year, he was approached by a baker named Fernando Pavarotti who wanted to know whether the tenor voice of his 19-year-old son, Luciano, was good enough for training as a professional opera singer. Pola later reported that he knew, after an approximately 15-minute audition,