Pietro Mascagni Pietro Mascagni Pietro Antonio Stefano Mascagni (; 7 December 1863 – 2 August 1945) was an Italian composer most noted for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece "Cavalleria Rusticana" caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the "Verismo" movement in Italian dramatic music. While it was often held that Mascagni, like Leoncavallo, was a "one-opera man" who could never repeat his first success, "L'amico Fritz" and "Iris" have remained in the repertoire in Europe (especially Italy) since their premieres. Mascagni said that at one point, "Iris" was performed in Italy more often than "Cavalleria" (cf.
John Keyes (tenor) "Otello", Samson in "Samson et Dalila", Tristan in "Tristan und Isolde", Turridu in "Cavalleria Rusticana", Walther in "Tannhäuser", and the title roles in "Don Carlos", "Lohengrin", Verdi's "Otello", "Parsifal", and "Siegfried". He is also active as a concert soloist, and is particularly known for his performances of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9". John Keyes (tenor) John Keyes is an American operatic tenor who specializes in the dramatic repertoire. After studies in Chicago, he apprenticed and performed at both the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Houston Grand Opera during the late 1980s. In 1990 he won an international singing