Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana

Maria Callas only appeared once in Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana. It was her stage debut while she was still a teenager living in Athens. She would never have the opportunity to portray Santuzza live again, but thankfully left us a splendid studio recording under the aegis of la Scala, featuring her long-time partners Giuseppe Di Stefano and Rolando Panerai. Then at the zenith of her expressive means, she perfectly renders the unfathomable distress of a jilted lover, in this unmissable founding work of Italian verismo.