From 15 to 21 September, the lyrical diptych debuts in Lugano The human voice by Francis Poulenc and Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni: Pre-sale opens tomorrow – Saturday, February 8th.

The diptych will be musically directed by Maestro Francesco Cilluffo at the head of the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana and theatrically by Emma Dante and will see Anna Caterina Antonacci as the protagonist of Poulenc's monologue while Stefano La Colla, Veronica Simeoni and Dalibor Jenis will bring Mascagni's love triangle to the stage.

Great Opera at the LAC

After the success of Il barbiere di Siviglia (2018) The Traviata (2022) and Anna Bolena (2023), the LAC returns to speak the language of music lovers and does so with a production that re-proposes the diptych conceived in 2017 for the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, which combines a more reflective and unusual work with a great scenic masterpiece, among the most loved and well-known in the world.

The human voice e Cavalleria rusticana

Anna Caterina Antonacci is the protagonist of the tragedy lyrique composed in 1958 by Poulenc, based on the play of the same name by Jean Cocteau. Stefano La Colla, Veronica Simeoni and Dalibor Jenis, interpreters of the roles of Turiddu, Santuzza and Alfio, are the protagonists of the famous love triangle that Mascagni composed inspired by the novel of the same name by Giovanni Verga. The cast is completed by Lucrezia Drei (Lola) and Agostina Smimmero (Mamma Lucia).

The staging is curated by the group of collaborators who have always accompanied Emma Dante's work: Carmine Maringola (scenes), Vanessa Sannino (costumes), Cristian Zucaro (lights), Manuela Lo Sicco (choreography).

“They are two works that both look at solitude – declared the director Francesco Cilluffo – represented however through two different rites; in Cavalleria the religious, community and Mediterranean rite, in The human voice the private, citizen, secular one and still current in its use of a mass communication medium such as the telephone to 'manage' a sentimental relationship. Works written by two authors with a markedly 'vocal' inspiration, who however were able to find in musical discourse a way to transfigure and make tangible the depressive nature that at the same time nourished and undermined their artistic life and their human story”.

“Let it be The human voice, both in Cavalleria rusticana, the protagonists are women – continues director Emma Dante – in both I read the pain of abandonment, of loneliness. The places are different, the communities that inhabit them are different, but the motivation that leads to tragedy is the same: the madness of love”.

Plot of the works

The human voice

A woman abandoned by her lover. Alone on stage, the protagonist doesn't even have a precise identity (her name is Elle, meaning She), and she talks on the phone with the lover who left her to marry someone else. But we only hear her voice, in a sort of monologue hanging by a thread. A last goodbye over the phone. The woman alternates moments of extreme tenderness with others of desperate passion. The man remains invisible, but his presence is evoked in the protagonist's pauses. Every now and then, the heated conversation is interrupted, but neither of them has the courage to end this last conversation, until the tragic epilogue.

Cavalleria rusticana

We are in a small village in Sicily, on Easter Sunday. Compare Turiddu sings a serenade to his beautiful Lola, even though he knows that during his military service she married Alfio. Among the crowd of celebrating villagers also appears Santuzza, Turiddu's current fiancée. Feeling in a complicated position, Santuzza decides to ask Lucia, Turiddu's mother, for advice. Lucia states that Turiddu has gone to buy wine for the celebration; when Santuzza tells her that compare Turiddu has been seen wandering around the village, Lucia silences her, asking her to come into the house, but Santuzza refuses.

Alfio arrives at Lucia's house, having come to visit Turiddu's mother. Alfio asks her for wine for the party, Lucia repeats that Turiddu was taking care of it. Alfio replies that he saw him in the morning near her house. As soon as Alfio leaves the scene, Santuzza reveals to Lucia that Turiddu and Lola are having an affair. Lucia, astonished, turns to the Madonna for the sin committed by her son.

Turiddu, who is arguing with Santuzza, and Lola enter the scene. Lola goes away to go to church; at this point the argument between Turiddu and Santuzza becomes more bitter, to the point that Turiddu attacks Santuzza, who wishes him a bad Easter.

Deeply hurt and embittered, Santuzza reveals to Alfio that his wife is having an affair with Turiddu. After the service, Turiddu offers wine to the villagers, with the intention of spending more time with Lola; the wine is also offered to Alfio, who refuses it. Turiddu approaches Alfio to embrace him, a gesture that, in fact, is a ploy to bite his ear, challenging him to a duel. Now completely drunk, Turiddu embraces his mother and recommends her to look after Santuzza. The act ends with a shout from the crowd: “They’ve killed compare Turiddu!”

The premiere on Monday 15 September at 20:00 pm will be followed by repeats on Wednesday 17 and Friday 19 September at 20:00 pm, and Sunday 21 September at 16:00 pm.
Tickets go on sale from 10am tomorrow – Saturday 00th February – on the website www.laclugano.ch and at the LAC ticket office.
Pre-emption for LAC+ members and classical music subscribers is already active.