Piero Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana (loosely translated as Rustic Chivalry) launched the verismo school of opera: everyday stories about ordinary people, set in contemporary times. He was just 26 years old when his composition won a music publisher’s competition, gaining him overnight fame.Pagliacci (Players or Clowns) is the sole work of Ruggero Leoncavallo to remain in the regular operatic repertoire. He penned the score after hearing Cavalleria rusticana in 1890. It became an immediate success after the première in 1892. The two works played together for the first time in 1893, and thereafter became seemingly inseparable.This double-bill is ideal for newcomers to opera. Cav & Pag are awash with well-known music. Audiences will thrill to the Easter Hymn, the Intermezzo, and the arias from Cav. Equally famous is the Prologue from Pag (which is in every baritone’s repertoire), and the heart-rending tenor aria Vesti la giubba… (On with the motley) is sure to leave a tear in the eye.