Mascagni, Pietro

Mascagni, Pietro (pyā`trō mäskä`nyē), 1863–1945, Italian operatic composer. He is known for his opera Cavalleria rusticana (1890), based on the tale by Giovanni Verga; it is a classic example of the style of realism known as verismo. His other operas were less successful.

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Mascagni, Pietro

(born Dec. 7, 1863, Livorno, Italy—died Aug. 2, 1945, Rome) Italian composer. He began to compose when very young. At the Milan Conservatory he studied with Amilcare Ponchielli (1834–86) and was Giacomo Puccini's roommate, but he was expelled. Taking conducting jobs with touring opera companies, he started writing operas and won a contest with his one-act Cavalleria rusticana (1890); it was an instant success from its premiere, and it remains his best-known work.

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Mascagni, Pietro 

Born Dec. 7, 1863, in Leghorn; died Aug. 2, 1945, in Rome. Italian composer.

Mascagni studied at the Milan Conservatory under A. Ponchielli and M. Saladino. In 1885 he began conducting at opera and operetta theaters. From 1895 to 1902 he was the director of the Pesaro Conservatory. Mascagni gained worldwide fame with his opera Cavalleria Rusticana (Rustic Chivalry, 1890, Costanzi Theater, Rome), which was based on a play by G. Verga. This work and Leoncavallo’s opera Pagliacci initiated a new direction in opera—the Italian school of verismo, or realism. Mascagni wrote the operas Iris (1898, Rome), Parisina (1913, Milan), and II piccolo Marat (1921, Rome). He also composed operettas, orchestral works, and music for films.

REFERENCES

Pompei, E. P. Mascagni nella vita e nell’arte. Rome, 1912.
Cellamare, D. Mascagni … Rome, 1941.
Anselmi, A. Pietro Mascagni. Milan, 1959.

T. G. KELDYSH