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
Arrigo Pola next three years in the Philippines. Among the roles Pola sang with the Manila Opera were Canio in "Pagliacci", Manrico in "Il trovatore", Rodolfo in "La bohème", and Turiddu in "Cavalleria rusticana". In 1954, Pola returned to Italy with the hopes of reviving his opera career in Italy; an attempt which never gained much momentum. That year, he was approached by a baker named Fernando Pavarotti who wanted to know whether the tenor voice of his 19-year-old son, Luciano, was good enough for training as a professional opera singer. Pola later reported that he knew, after an approximately 15-minute audition,