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Le maschere (The Masks) is an opera in a Prologue and three acts by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian...

Le maschere (The Masks) is an opera in a Prologue and three acts by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica. The work was Mascagni's homage to Rossini and to the Italian opera buffa and commedia dell'arte traditions. It was premiered simultaneously in six Italian opera houses on January 17,1901: La Scala (with Caruso as Florindo, Carelli as Rosaura, and Toscanini conducting); the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa; the Teatro Regio in Turin; the Teatro Costanzi in Rome; La Fenice in Venice; and the Teatro Filarmonico in Verona. Two days later, it premiered at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. Apart from the performance in Rome, conducted by Mascagni himself, Le maschere received a dismal reception, with the performance in Genoa suspended half-way through because of the audience's vociferous expressions of displeasure. The opera was sporadically performed in Italy over the next four years and then sank into obscurity. In the Prologue, a travelling commedia dell'arte troupe and their impressario present the characters they are about to play. The remaining three acts are the play itself wherein after many vicissitudes, Florindo and Rosaura, aided by Columbina and Arlecchino,