Editing Pietro Mascagni (section)

===1890–1899===
[[File:PietroMascagni1.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Mascagni in c.&nbsp;1890]]
On 21 February 1890, Mascagni was summoned to Rome to present his opera. The première of ''Cavalleria rusticana'', winner of the Sonzogno contest, was held 17 May at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. It had outstanding success, and the opera was soon performed in both the north and south of Italy: [[Florence]], [[Turin]], [[Bologna]], [[Palermo]], [[Milan]], [[Genoa]], [[Naples]], [[Venice]] and [[Trieste]].

In December, [[Gustav Mahler]] conducted the opera in [[Budapest]]. Soon thereafter, the cities of [[Munich]], [[Hamburg]], [[St. Petersburg]], [[Dresden]] and [[Buenos Aires]] welcomed the opera. In March 1891, it was sung in [[Vienna]]. At age 26, Mascagni had become internationally famous.

Mascagni premiered his ''[[L'amico Fritz]]'', his second most successful opera, on 31 October 1891 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. ''[[I Rantzau]]'' premiered on 10 November at the Teatro La Pergola, in Florence, under his personal direction.

The composer next completed ''[[Silvano (opera)|Silvano]] '' (1894). On 16 February 1895, he premiered  ''[[Guglielmo Ratcliff]]'' at the Teatro alla Scala of Milan. On 15 March ''Silvano'' was premiered at the same theatre. That year, Mascagni accepted the directorship of the [[Conservatorio Statale di Musica "Gioachino Rossini"|Liceo Rossini]] in [[Pesaro]] and moved his family there.

On 2 March 1896, Mascagni conducted the première of ''[[Zanetto]]'' at the Liceo. He continued his composing and directing. On 29 June 1898 in [[Recanati]], Mascagni conducted the première of his [[symphonic poem]], ''A [[Giacomo Leopardi]]''. Mascagni began a collaboration with [[Luigi Illica]], a librettist. Their first work, ''[[Iris (opera)|Iris]],'' was premiered on 22 November at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome.

Mascagni's father died in May 1899.