First performed on October 31, 1891, at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome, L'amico Fritz is Mascagni's second most popular opera and is still staged with some frequency in Italy. Although fans expected another Cavalleria rusticana, and initially expressed their disappointment at not receiving one, the qualities of L'amico Fritz eventually won over its potential detractors. Some, including Gustav Mahler, who gave a performance of the opera in Hamburg in 1892, considered L'amico Fritz superior to Cavalleria in many ways.

L'amico Fritz is strikingly different; having launched the verismo school with Cavalleria, Mascagni here made a complete stylistic about-face. But this was at least in part because of the commission Mascagni received in early 1891 from the Teatro Costanzi in Rome; the management asked the composer to deliver an opera on a light, entertaining subject. After some searching, Mascagni chose a French comedy by Emile Erckmann and Alexandre Chatrian, L'Ami Fritz, which had been published in 1864 and adapted for the stage in 1872. The story was further transformed into a libretto by P. Suardon (an anagram for the famous writer, N. Daspuro), who maintained the fundamental ingredients of the original: Fritz Kobus, a wealthy, confirmed bachelor, lives on his estate in Alsace. The Rabbi David (changed to a physician during Italy's Mussolini years), a persistent matchmaker, is determined to get Fritz to marry. Partly through David's plotting, Fritz falls in love with Suzel, the daughter of his steward, and asks her to marry him.

So, absent is Cavelleria's stark realism, charged eroticism, and blistering, brief, and frenetic segments of music. Instead, L'amico Fritz offers a subdued, idyllic atmosphere that makes it irresistible and charming. The first performance was a triumph; several numbers were repeated and there were innumerable curtain calls. Within a year of the premiere, L'amico Fritz played across Europe.

The characters are exquisitely drawn. The most colorfully illustrated of these is Suzel, a shy person capable of emotional outbursts. Her romance from Act One, "Son pochi fiori," is especially impressive, its melody looking forward to Puccini's Manon Lescaut. Suzel's second-act ballad, "Bel cavalier," is notable in that each of its four verses rises a step above the previous one, increasing tension, and her anguished "Non mi resta che il pianto," from Act Three, has become a concert favorite. Fritz is the next most carefully drawn character; his growing love becomes clear in his impassioned "Quale strano turbamento!" from the second act as well as the Act Three romance, "O amore o bella luce del cuore!" As is the case with most of Mascagni's tenor parts, the tessitura is uncommonly high—a challenge for even the finest singers. Rabbi David's sturdy, serious personality comes across in the stately setting of his "Per voi, ghiottoni inutili," from Act One, and in the chorale-like, third-act duet with Suzel, "Faceasi vecchio Abramo," in which they discuss a Bible story.

Alsatian folk songs arranged for an off-stage chorus create local color, while Mascagni portrays the pastoral setting in Suzel's "Son pochi fiori" and her "Cherry" duet with Fritz in Act Two. Beppe's gypsy background becomes apparent in the violin solo that serves as his introduction.

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