Cavalleria Rusticana which is Italian for "rustic chivalry"is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from an 1880 short story of the same name and subsequent play 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
Lola - Maria Marcucci
Alfio - Gino Bechi
Mamma Lucia - Giuletta Simionato
The Orchestra and Chorus of La Scala, Milan
Conducted by the composer Pietro Mascagni who gives a spoken introduction at the beginning of the recording.
78 recordings from 1940 restored and recorded by Nimbus Records.

Pagliacci or "Clowns" is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It is the composer's only opera that is still widely performed. Opera companies have frequently staged Pagliacci with Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni, a double bill known colloquially as "Cav and Pag".
Pagliacci premiered at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan on May 21, 1892, conducted by Arturo Toscanini, with Adelina Stehle as Nedda, Fiorello Giraud as Canio, Victor Maurel as Tonio, and Mario Ancona as Silvio. Nellie Melba played Nedda in London in 1893, soon after the Italian premiere, and it was given in New York on June 15, 1893 with Agostino Montegriffo as Canio.
Cast:
Canio - Beniamino Gigli
Nedda - Iva Pacetti
Tonio - Mario Basiola
Peppe - Giuseppe Nessi
Silvio - Leone Paci
The Orchestra and Chorus of La Scala Milan
Franco Ghione - conductor
78 recordings from 1934 restored and recorded by Nimbus Records.