The National Opera presents a new production of the most popular operatic diptych directed by Nikos Karathanos. Karathanos, one of the most important directors of the theater, will make his debut in works of the opera repertoire giving a new reading to the two leading operas of verismo – Cavalleria rusticana and Paliatsous – through his own recognizable – poetic and at the same time realistic – look.

The sets and costumes of the production will be signed by the distinguished British set designer and costume designer Leslie Travers, who impressed with the stage installation he created for the recent Cyanopogon Tower of the ELLS.

The Cavalleria rusticana – i.e. Rural chivalry – and the Clowns, these two leading examples of the movement that came to be known as "verismo" (from the Italian word vero meaning true) and which expresses realism in Italian opera, are at the same time the most popular diptych in the entire history of opera.

Cavalleria rusticana won the 1890 competition for one-act operas of the Italian publisher Edoardo Sonzoni, who was looking for talent in the new generation of Italian composers. Two years later the Clowns, an opera in two acts with a prologue, under the musical direction of Arturo Toscanini, were presented in Milan and were a huge success. The aria "Laugh, scumbag" became world famous thanks to the legendary Italian tenor Enrico Caruso and to this day remains synonymous with the entire lyrical art.

Distancing themselves from the passions and high-minded ideals of the lyric works of Romanticism, these two operas chronicle the passions of humble, common people of the Italian South. Their passionate music intensifies the drama and creates strong emotions, which have given them immortality: from the first day of their performance, the two works remain firmly at the core of the lyric theaters of the world.

Karathanos notes of the two works: "Never has so much blood received so much applause. Never has such a crime spawned such music – it wasn't just the legendary Caruso, Coppola and his Godfather, Scorsese and the entire mafia who couldn't get away from this music... None of us managed to escape! It entered our kitchens deifying our lunches, it chased us in the afternoons when we were young and came out washed and clean with a parting in the middle and it soiled us all night long. No mother, no chick could resist humming or rather belting out arias from Cavalleria rusticana and the Clowns while she cooked, while she flirted wildly. No man poor, tall, fat, deep, shallow, rich could ' resist the idea that he is singing "Vesti la giubba". It's moments like these that the audience doesn't see a performance. They kill our youth."

Coefficients:
Music director: Antonello Allemadi
Directed by: Nikos Karathanos
Sets, costumes: Leslie Travers
Music Drama: Angelos Triantafillou
Choreography: Amalia Bennett
Lighting: Ben Pickersgill
Choir Director: Agathangelos Georgakatos
Children's choir director: Konstantina Pitsiakou

Distribution:

Cavalry Rusticana
Sadutsa: Ekaterina Gubanova
Lola: Diamantis Kritsotakis
Turin: Arsene Sogomonian
Alfio: Dimitris Platanias
Lucia: Julia Souglakou

Clowns
Nedda: Celia Costea
Canoe: Arsen Sogomonian
Tony: Dimitris Platanias
Beppe: Yiannis Kalivas
Silvio: Dionysis Sourbis

With the Orchestra, Choir and Children's Choir of the National Opera, as part of its educational mission