This opera belongs to the "sex, strife, and sadism" school of verismo, like ly or a Cena delle Beffe. The music keeps a constant, demanding tension, whether in the violent scenes or in the growing passion between the lovers, expressed in harsh discords, or sudden powerful surges of melody. There are some moments of delicacy, such as the music welcoming the springtime or the story that the jester tells, but they exist as both backdrop and foreshadowing to the darker moments.

Probably the best-known section (there are no traditional arias) is the scene between Paolo and Francesca, beginning "Benvenuto, signor mio cognato." The studied control of the opening, as they exchange formal greetings, remains steady as Francesca begs "Paolo, datemi pace," (Paolo, give me peace), but as Paolo recalls their more fiery encounter and a vision he had had of Francesca, it quickly dissolves into a growing sexual tension, underscored by the orchestra's uneasy stirrings, sometimes punctuated by soaring phrases from the strings. The vocal lines become more declamatory and heated, and the music throbs ominously as, after a section of illusory calm, Paolo asks Francesca to read from the story of Lancelot and Guinevere. As the two surrender to t heir desire and kiss, there is an almost Wagnerian climax in the orchestra, followed by the offstage voices celebrating spring, as the lovers sensually murmur one another's names.

Like many of its contemporary works, urandot, Gioelli della Madonna, and sabeau,this is an unsettling one, both musically and dramatically. The violence is cruel and explicit, the music leaves nothing to the imagination, and moments of "traditional" melodic flow are interspersed with violent discords, and as such, it is a splendid example of what the verismo composers were attempting to do, with their drive for realism, and fascination with eroticism in all its aspects.

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