Helmed by Anne Marie Ketchum, who is celebrating forty consecutive years as Artistic Director of the organization, Cavalleria Rusticana will star award-winning mezzo soprano Audrey Babcock as Santuzza, tenor Todd Wilander as Turiddu, who comes to the production direct from the Metropolitan Opera, and renowned baritone Roberto Perlas Gómez, who, with over 100 roles to his credit, has performed extensively throughout the United States. The Verdi Chorus, the only choral group in Southern California that focuses primarily on the dramatic and diverse music for opera chorus, will join the opera.

Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana is considered the first verismo opera, which is focused not on mythological figures, or kings and queens, but of the much earthier daily struggles and emotions of men and women. And it depicts the emotionally charged, and sometimes violent situations that can result. According to Opera Online, “Cavalleria Rusticana, which could be translated as “rustic chivalry,” is characterised by the extreme simplicity of its plot in which fits of jealousy clash with the exaltation of honour. Mascagni was able to retain all the power of a bloody news story. Verdi himself, after hearing the work, said ‘I can die in peace.’”