It’s release day. Living Opera Music’s second single from Radio Days is out now.
“O Lola ch’ai di latti la cammisa,” from Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, is performed by tenor Norman Reinhardt, with production by Jeff Trott and arrangement by Patrick Warren.
The track continues the project’s exploration of how operatic voices helped shape the early sound world of modern media.
The choice of “O Lola” connects directly to the history behind Radio Days.
In 1910, music from Cavalleria Rusticana was part of one of the earliest experimental radio transmissions from the Metropolitan Opera House. The signal was unstable, but the moment was historic. Opera began moving beyond the stage and into broadcast culture.
That shift changed how audiences encountered music. A performance no longer belonged only to the people seated inside the theater. It could travel through new technology, reaching listeners in ways that were still uncertain, experimental, and extraordinary.
“O Lola” captures the intimacy and intensity of Mascagni’s world. It is brief, direct, and unmistakably theatrical. In the context of Radio Days, it also carries a second meaning.
The song points to a moment when opera became part of mass communication. It reminds us that classical music was not separate from technological change. It was present at the beginning.
Listen to “O Lola” here.
