Royal Opera House: Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci

These two short Italian operas are each regarded as the composers' masterpiece, and are brought together in a new staging by award-winning director Damiano Michieletto, who sets both operas in a poverty stricken village in 1980s southern Italy, where the Mafia has a hold. The Royal Opera's Music Director Antonio Pappano conducts a cast that includes charismatic Dutch soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek, exciting Italian soprano Carmen Giannattasio and the thrilling Latvian tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko.