Le Villi (The Willis or The Fairies) is an opera-ballet in two acts (originally one) composed by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Ferdinando Fontana, based on the short story Les Willis by Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr. Karr's story was in turn based in the Central European legend of the vila, also used in the ballet Giselle. The opera, in its original one-act version, was first performed at the Teatro Dal Verme, Milan, on May 31, 1884.

Cast:

Guglielmo – Leo Nucci

Anna – Renata Scotto

Roberto – Placido Domingo

The Narrator – Tito Gobbi

Lorin Maazel – condcutor

CBS Masterworks - 1979

Cavalleria rusticana is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from a play and short story written by Giovanni Verga. Considered one of the classic verismo operas, it premiered on May 17, 1890 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. Since 1893, it has often been performed in a so-called Cav/Pag double-bill with Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo.

Cast:

Turiddu – Beniamino Gigli

Santuzza – Lina Bruna Rasa

La Scala Opera conducted by the composer, Pietro Mascagni

Recorded 1940