Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana (CD) – Giuseppe Giacomini

Composer: Pietro Mascagni
Artists: Giuseppe Giacomini, Katerina Ikonomou, Alessando Cassis, Paola Romano, Fedora Barbieri, ORT - Orchestra della Toscana, Accademia Strumentale Toscana
Conductor: Bruno Bartoletti
Number of Discs: 1
Label: Bongiovanni
CD Release Date: October 5, 2021

The performance of Cavalleria Rusticana republished on this album took place in Livorno, the hometown of Mascagni, on the centenary of its premiere, which took place in 1890 in Rome at the Teatro Costanzi. 

This publication commemorates one of the most important voices of post-World War II, the tenor Giuseppe Giacomini, who recently passed away at the age of 80, and who is caught here in a role particularly congenial to him and at the zenith of his career. Known and loved by audiences worldwide, Giacomini’s voice is unique for its richness of harmonics and extension. English critic Alan Blyth wrote of him: “... he is the true inheritor of the spinto mantle last worn by Corelli, and to some extent by Vickers. Yet his tone, with his strongly baritonal timbre, bears an even closer resemblance to that of Francesco Merli.” The conductor is Bruno Bartoletti, who had a long and honored theatrical and recording career; also to be noted is the “extraordinary participation” of Fedora Barbieri in the part of Lucia.

Read More