Iris

Story

Synopsis

Following the runaway success of Cavalleria rusticana in 1890 at the age of 27, Mascagni did not rest on his laurels. In just a few years, he completed five operas, including Iris, premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome in 1898. Mascagni might well have taken for his own Puccini's famous quip, “Against everything and everyone, make a work from melody”. And in Iris it is melodic invention which shows the composer's genius at its greatest. A melody by Mascagni is usually long, smooth and Italian-sounding; and Iris is full-on melody all the way, particularly in such crowd-pleasers as Jor's Serenade, the “Hymn of the Sun” or the duet in Act II “Oh come al tuo sottile corpo s'aggira”, which includes the famous “Piovra”. Furtheremore, with a little effort listeners can identify what would be the various musical “numbers”. In Iris, Mascagni is almost obsessively attentive to recitative and his exemplary flexibility at times recalls the sublime "conversation style" "invented" by Puccini.

Director

Hiroki Ihara

Language

English

Release date

2 October 2026

Ensemble

Cast

• Manrico Signorini

  Il Cieco

• 

  Paoletta Marrocu

  Iris

• Paolo Atognetti

  Osaka

• Carmine Monaco d'Ambrosia

  Kyoto

• Alessandra Rossi

  Dhia / Una Guecha

• Didier Pieri

  Un Cenciauolo / Un Merciaiuolo

• Tommaso Tomboloni

  Cenciaiuolo

• Marco Innamorati

  Cenciaiuoli