Captivating verismo intermezzi. The focus [of this CD] is occupied by intermezzi from the famous operas of Giacomo Puccini, Pietro Mascagni, and Ruggero Leoncavallo and their masterfully instrumented music rich in emotions and ideas. Here three verismo works by these composers merit special mention: According to some music historians, the Rome premiere of Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana on 17 May 1890 signaled the birth of this special stylistic current. Ever since its Milan premiere on 21 May 1892 Leoncavallo’s two-act Pagliacci has become the perfect counterpart to the one-act opera by Puccini, who was six years his junior. Italo Montemezzi’s L’amore dei tre re (The Love of the Three Kings) developed the fundamental verismo concept in phenomenal fashion and into three gripping acts. This lesser-known opera was staged at the Teatro alla Scala considerably later, on 10 April 1913, when its composer was thirty-eight-years old. - cpo (Translated from German text.)