Mostly known for his Cavalaria rusticana, one of the fundamental works of the verismo movement in Italian opera, Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945) was a versatile composer whose idiom was not limited to one style. In Lodoletta (1917), a lyrical drama in three acts based on Two Little Wooden Shoes, a children's novel by the British Victorian writer Louise de la Ramée (also known as Ouida), Mascagni approaches the sentimental lyricism of Puccini. In fact, Mascagni managed to outbid uccini for the rights to Ouida's novel. Mascagni's librettist for this work was Giovachinno Forzano.

© All Music Guide