The first disc opens with a brief speech by the composer, delivered with verve and hammy declamation. It's a fun start to this 1940 recording, made 50 years after its premiere. His conducting is very free, ignoring score markings and leading the slowest of the opera's many recorded versions. But it works; a reading full of atmosphere and an inevitability that, even after all these years, makes this one of the best-conducted of all Cavallerias. It also has one of the best casts ever assembled. Beniamino Gigli is a terrific Turiddu; he's in excellent voice, singing with intensity and involvement. He shares honors with the burly baritone of Gino Bechi, among the best of all recorded Alfios. Another plus is the passionate Santuzza, Lina Bruna Rasa, who lets out all the stops in true verismo style. Naxos fills out the second disc with Mascagni conducting overtures and preludes from his own and others' operas. But the Cavalleria is what counts, and Ward Marston's fine transfers make this issue preferable to other available versions of this performance. --Dan Davis