Giacomo Puccini line. "Verismo" is a style of Italian opera that began in 1890 with the first performance of Mascagni's "Cavalleria rusticana", peaked in the early 1900s, and lingered into the 1920s. The style is distinguished by realistic – sometimes sordid or violent – depictions of everyday life, especially the life of the contemporary lower classes. It by and large rejects the historical or mythical subjects associated with Romanticism. "Cavalleria rusticana", "Pagliacci", and "Andrea Chénier" are uniformly considered to be "verismo" operas. Puccini's career as a composer is almost entirely coincident in time with the "verismo" movement. Only his "Le Villi" and
Robin Donald Robin Donald Donald Robin (Smith) (born 26 March 1942) is an Australian operatic tenor who was known professionally as 'Robin Donald'. He is the son of arguably Australia's greatest operatic tenor voice Donald Smith . Robin performed leading operatic tenor roles, including Rudolfo in La Bohème, Turridu in Cavalleria Rusticana, in many major opera houses throughout Britain, including the Sadler's Wells Opera Company Theatre and the London Coliseum Theatre, Europe (Théâtre Royal de La Monnaie), Australia (Sydney Opera House), and in Christchurch New Zealand, where he sang Florestan in the opera "Fidelio" for the New Zealand Broadcasting Commission, during a