Written by Pietro Mascagni, it premiered in 1890. The opera is set in a Sicilian village on Easter morning. Turiddu, a young villager, had returned from military service to find that while he was gone, his fiancée, Lola, had married Alfio, the prosperous village teamster. In revenge, Turiddu seduced Santuzza, a young woman in the village. As the opera begins, Lola, overcome by her jealousy of Santuzza, has begun an adulterous affair with Turiddu. The square is empty as the orchestra plays the Intermezzo.