Pietro Mascagni Somalia. In 1940, celebrations for the fiftieth anniversary of his most popular opera, "Cavalleria rusticana", took place all over Italy, often with Mascagni conducting. The opera was recorded for "La Voce del padrone" ("His Master's Voice") at La Scala under the direction of Mascagni, who recorded a special spoken introduction. EMI later reissued the recording on LP and CD. In 1942, after an audience with Pope Pius XII, newspapers quoted Mascagni, a Roman Catholic, as saying that his tuberculosis-stricken niece was cured after receiving a rosary and silver medal blessed by the pope. In April 1943, Mascagni appeared for the
China National Opera Butterfly, Verdi's Requiem as well as Chinese-language opera. In 2008 CNOH toured America with 10 performances of the original creation Farewell My Concubine (modern opera). In the same year CNOH performed Puccini’s Turandot in Cairo Opera House. The repertoire of the company has now expanded to "Madame Butterfly, Eugene Onegin (opera), Carmen (opera), La Traviata, Gianni Schicchi, Turandot, Aida, La Boheme, Rigoletto, The Marriage of Figaro, Otello Cavalleria Rusticana, The Barber of Seville Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Le Roi d'Ys, as well as Chinese-language western-style operas, such as Liu Hulan (opera), Song of the Grasslands, Ayiguli, The Hundredth Bride, Marco Polo