Cavalleria Rusticana is a tragic opera in one act by the Italian composer Pietro Mascagni (see Mascagni, Pietro). The title means "Rustic chivalry." The libretto (text) in Italian, was written by Guido Menasci and Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and based on the story and play Cavalleria Rusticana by the Italian author Giovanni Verga. The opera was completed in 1889 and won a competition, organized by an Italian music publisher, to find a new one-act opera. It received its first performance in Rome on May 17, 1890.