Verismo

Verismo is the Italian operatic movement of the 1890s and 1900s that brought the realism of contemporary literature to the lyric stage, replacing kings and myths with peasants, workers, actors and soldiers whose passions end in jealousy, betrayal and murder. Its music favours continuous orchestral flow over closed numbers, speech-like vocal lines that rise to impassioned climaxes, and local colour drawn from folk song, church bells and street life. *Pietro Mascagni*'s "Cavalleria rusticana" and *Ruggero Leoncavallo*'s "Pagliacci" founded the style, and *Giacomo Puccini* carried its methods into the standard repertory.