In the Heat of the Sun accepted to Beijing Film Academy) and became successful actors. The Chinese version of the Soviet song "Moscow Nights" features prominently in the film, as does Pietro Mascagni's music for his opera "Cavalleria Rusticana". The film was commercially successful in China. In contrast to the Cultural Revolution-set films of Chinese 5th-generation filmmakers (Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Tian Zhuangzhuang) which put the era into a larger historical setting, "In The Heat Of the Sun" is mellow and dream-like, portraying memories of that era with somewhat positive and personal resonances. It also acknowledges, as the narrator recalls, that he might have misremembered parts
Maria Duchêne pneumonia just as Maria was about to take the stage as Lola in "Cavalleria rusticana". Her final and 166th performance with the Met was as Ulrica in "Un ballo in maschera" in an out of town performance at the Boston Opera House on April 18, 1916. Details of her life after leaving the Met are unknown. Maria Duchêne Maria Duchêne-Billiard (1884 - ?) was a French contralto of the Metropolitan Opera from 1912 to 1916. She portrayed such roles as Amneris in "Aida", Giulietta in "The Tales of Hoffmann", Lola in "Cavalleria rusticana", Maddalena in "Rigoletto". She sang the role