CHICAGO (9/25/2025) — Lyric Opera of Chicago presents a murderous double feature of Mascagni’s
Cavalleria rusticana and Leoncavallo’s
Pagliacci — known collectively as
Cav/Pag — two timeless operas that ignite music’s most incendiary emotions, on stage November 1 – 23, 2025. While both stories of
Cav/Pag are set within southern Italian culture and tradition, their themes are universal; they tell of love that consumes, and revenge that devours. This chilling Lyric production returns for the first time in more than 15 years.
Ordinary lives erupt in extraordinary ways. More than just a random double bill, the two operas of
Cav/Pag are united through the verismo style they defined. This 19th-century form of Italian opera broke from the traditional focus on mythology and royalty to ground itself in the realistic and often gritty depictions of everyday life. These operas strip love of its overwrought grandeur and show it for what it can become: messy, corrosive, and even fatal. Short in length but packed with unforgettable fervor,
Cav/Pag delivers quick emotional blows to the heart.
Let passion follow their lead. Lyric Music Director
Enrique Mazzola leads the Lyric Opera Orchestra in bringing this double production to life. Seasoned in the Italian repertoire, Mazzola turns to
Cav/Pag after conducting the 2025/26 Season-opening performances of Cherubini’s
Medea. Later this season, Mazzola conducts Lyric's company premiere of Orff's
Carmina Burana as well as Mozart's
Così fan tutte.
This Lyric production by the late Elijah Moshinsky, noted for its striking visuals and searing emotional depth, returns for the first time since the 2008/09 Season and is revived by stage director
Peter McClintock. The staging threads the two operas together through the thematic foundations that drive both stories to their lethal ends.
A holy day of heartbreak. In
Cavalleria rusticana, composer Pietro Mascagni sets a tender yet turbulent score against the backdrop of a Sicilian village on Easter morning, where sacred rituals can’t drown out explosive scandal. Santuzza, a woman shunned by her community and cast aside by her lover Turiddu, clings to her crumbling faith. As she pleads for forgiveness and recognition, she discovers that Turiddu has resumed his affair with Lola, who just so happens to be married to Alfio, a local cart driver. As the church bells ring, so does the call for blood to spill. In the church square, as villagers gather to celebrate, personal betrayals erupt into public vengeance.
In their Lyric debuts, mezzo-soprano
Yulia Matochkina stars as the tormented Santuzza alongside tenor
SeokJong Baek as Turiddu. Lyric veteran baritone
Quinn Kelsey — a powerhouse alumnus of The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center, Lyric's renowned artist-training program — returns as Alfio, the first of his two roles in this production. Another alumna of the Ryan Opera Center, contralto
Lauren Decker, is Turiddu's devoted Mamma Lucia. Mezzo-soprano
Camille Robles, a current member of the Ryan Opera Center Ensemble, sings the role of Lola.
The clown isn’t laughing. The curtain rises again for Ruggero Leoncavallo’s
Pagliacci, as a traveling troupe of performers arrives in a Sicilian village and envy and deception brew behind the scenes. Canio, the troupe’s leader, learns from Tonio that his wife and leading lady, Nedda, has taken Silvio as her lover. (Tonio also rages with an unrequited love for Nedda.) Canio must go on with the show, playing a clown whose wife betrays him — a role which hews all too close to his reality. Beneath its painted smiles and vaudeville spectacle,
Pagliacci reveals a stage where illusion shatters and truth bleeds through the cracks.
Tenor
Russell Thomas, a mainstay in leading roles at Lyric in recent seasons, returns to sing Canio. Soprano
Gabriella Reyes, who charmed audiences as Musetta in the 2024/25 Season’s production of Puccini’s
La Bohème, also returns as Nedda. In an impressive double-duty feat, baritone
Quinn Kelsey also stars as Tonio. Baritone
Luke Sutliff makes his Lyric debut as Silvio. Thomas and Kelsey were previously directed by McClintock in Lyric's Emmy-winning 2021 video production of
Pagliacci, which was released for home streaming during the pandemic.
Worlds crumble under the weight of betrayal. Lyric’s acclaimed production of
Cav/Pag captures both the beauty of traditional Sicilian village life and the charged theatricality of a traveling performance troupe. Set and costume designer
Michael Yeargan creates the dramatic visual poetry of this production. Lighting designer
Duane Schuler shapes the mood for these volatile tales of the soul. Under the leadership of Chorus Director
Michael Black, the Lyric Opera Chorus beautifully evokes a solemn Easter morning and the celebration of a village festival.
A double dose of devastation. In
Cavalleria rusticana & Pagliacci, sacred traditions give way to betrayals and become a battleground for passion and revenge. With entrancing music and unrelenting drama,
Cav/Pag leaves no room for mercy and no character untouched. It is opera at its most heart-wrenching, brought vividly to life on the Lyric stage this November.
Important to know:
- Eight performances only: November 1, 4, 7, 9 matinee, 12 matinee, 15, 20 matinee, and 23 matinee.
- Language: Performed in Italian, with easy-to-follow projected English titles above the stage.
- Running time: A total running time of 2 hours and 55 minutes, including 1 intermission.
- Pre-performance talks: Ticketholders are invited to a free
pre-opera talk by noted opera scholar and former Lyric dramaturg Roger Pines on the composition history and social context of Cav/Pag; the talks begin one hour before each performance in the theater's Steiner Parquet (the main floor).
- Post-performance discussion: Following the Sunday, November 9 matinee performance, Roderick K. Hawkins leads a discussion with the artists of Cav/Pag.
- Accessibility: Audio description, guided touch tours, and SoundShirts are available at the Sunday, November 9 matinee performance. Braille and large-print programs, high-powered opera glasses, assistive listening devices, and booster seats are available from the Steiner Parquet coat checks at all performances. For more information on these and other accessibility assets, visit lyricopera.org/accessibility.
- Location: Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL.
For more information and tickets, visit
lyricopera.org/cavpag or call 312.827.5600.
