Verismo (music) of the poor, that had not generally been seen as a fit subject for literature. A short story by Verga called "Cavalleria rusticana" (), then developed into a play by the same author, became the source for what is usually considered to be the first "verismo" opera: "Cavalleria rusticana" by Mascagni, which premiered on 17 May 1890 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. Thus begun, the operatic genre of "verismo" produced a handful of notable works such as "Pagliacci", which premiered at Teatro Dal Verme in Milan on 21 May 1892, and Puccini's "Tosca" (premiering at the Teatro Costanzi in
José Cura Rusticana" and "Pagliacci" at the Met in New York, and "Turandot", "Cavalleria rusticana" and "Pagliacci" in Zurich. Cura continues to tour concert halls and opera houses around the world, performing his signature roles of Otello, Samson, Canio, Turiddu, Don José, Stiffelio, Cavaradossi, Dick Johnson, Calaf, Edgar etc. – debuting in "La Bohème" as Rodolfo at the Zurich Opera House in 2010. He took his "Otello" to the Met in 2013, not before saving the last performance of "Carmen" at the same opera house, a favour which he had been asked to do the very moment he landed in New York,