Or take Fiorenza Cossotto. When she sang Santuzza’s aria in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana (an opera, by the way, which I have never liked), everything became clear: she told of Santuzza’s sufferings only through her singing, standing almost motionless in a simple dress on the stage of the Grand Hall of the Conservatoire. /I hope I will not be suspected of underestimating the work of the producer, the artist, and, of course, the conductor. We are all aware of the difficulties of their work – difficulties that are all the greater, the more prominence is given to the element of singing.