Domenico Monleone

Domenico Monleone (January 4, 1875 – 15 January 1942) was an Italian composer of operas, most noted for his opera Cavalleria rusticana of 1907, which for a while rivalled the success of Mascagni's work of the same name which was from the same source. The work was the third opera to be based on Verga's 1884 theatrical adaptation of his own short story, Cavalleria rusticana, Stanislao Gastaldon’s Mala Pasqua being the first, and Mascagni's famous opera (1890) being the second. Mascagni and his lawyers intervened and Monleone changed the opera ‘beyond recognition’ setting the music to a new libretto. In this form it was presented as La giostra dei falchi in 1914.

There have been recent revivals of Monleone's original Cavalleria rusticana in Tirana (Albania) and (more successfully) in Montpellier (France) in 2001. Also in Albania there has been (1998) a revival (radio concert) of Il mistero conducted by Daniel Pacitti which has been released on CD.

Compositions Cavalleria rusticana, 2 May 1907, Amsterdam Una novella del Boccaccio, 26 May 1909, Genoa Alba eroica, 5 May 1910, Genoa Arabesca, 3 November 1913, Rome La giostra dei falchi - the music of Cavalleria rusticana (above) to a new libretto, 17 April 1914, Turin Suona la ritirata, 23 May 1916, Milan Fauvette, 3 February 1926, Genoa Il mistero, 7 May 1921, Venice, revised 1934, Turin Scheuggio Campanna, 1928, Genoa La ronda di notte del Rembrandt, 1933 Genoa Notte di nozze, 17 September 1940, Bergamo