19 Mar 2025
St Albans Chamber Opera has a truly international cast of soloists for its forthcoming double bill of operas.
Singers from Austria, Ukraine, Australia, Armenia, the USA and the UK will be performing Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni and Gianni Schicchi by Giacomo Puccini at the Abbey Theatre in St Albans from Sunday March 23 to Saturday March 29.
First, Cavalleria Rusticana, with its famous Easter Hymn (recorded by SACO during lockdown), tells of Turiddu, who returns from the army to discover his fiancée Lola has married Alfio. In remorse, he seduces Santuzza. Lola is consumed with jealousy and begins an affair with Turiddu. Despite pleading with him and his mother, Santuzza cannot win Turiddu back. She confides in Alfio, with fatal consequences.
Then, a death, a will and a scheming family. Puccini’s comic opera, Gianni Schicchi, shows how greed becomes all-important. The sublime score includes Oh my Beloved Father, the theme from A Room with a View.
Both operas are sung in English, supported by the SACO Chorus and accompanied by the SACO orchestra.
Tickets are available from the Abbey Theatre Box Office:
