On the weekend of November 22-23, Grace Chorale of Brooklyn performed Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni in collaboration with the String Orchestra of Brooklyn. The performances were held before packed houses on both nights at St. Ann and The Holy Trinity Church, 157 Montague Street, Brooklyn, NY.
An opera in one act, the Cavalleria rusticana draws on the post-Romantic operatic tradition known as "verismo" (meaning "realism") that sought to bring the naturalism of influential late 19th-century writers such as Émile Zola and Henrik Ibsen into opera. The style is distinguished by realistic – sometimes sordid or violent – depictions of everyday life, especially the life of the contemporary lower classes.
Eli Spindel, conductor
Jason Asbury, chorus master and organist
Sam Helfrich, director
Tom Cunningham, assistant conductor
William Long, vocal coach
Sarah Heltzel, Santuzza
Alex Richardson, Turiddu
Richard Lippold, Alfio
Kirsten Sollek, Mama Lucia
Joan Peitscher, Lola