Opera After Verdi, the sentimental "realistic" melodrama of verismo appeared in Italy. This was a style introduced by Pietro Mascagni's "Cavalleria rusticana" and Ruggero Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci" that came to dominate the world's opera stages with such popular works as Giacomo Puccini's "La bohème", "Tosca", and "Madama Butterfly". Later Italian composers, such as Berio and Nono, have experimented with modernism. The first German opera was "Dafne", composed by Heinrich Schütz in 1627, but the music score has not survived. Italian opera held a great sway over German-speaking countries until the late 18th century. Nevertheless, native forms would develop in spite of this
Paul Hansen (tenor) Copenhagen where he became a music teacher. He later moved to Helsinki where he died in 1967 at the age of 81. In 1917 Hansen appeared in his film debut, "Cavalleria Rusticana", based on the opera of the same name. His co-star on "Cavalleria Rusticana" was mezzo-soprano Emma Vilmar, who took the role of Lucia. The two became a couple and were later married. His early cinema appearances were all made in Germany and were translations of popular operas. From 1919 Hansen began appearing in cinema dramas, and that year he starred in the silent film "The Woman at the