The Ave Maria (Hail Mary) is a traditional Christian prayer addressing Mary, mother of Jesus. Ave Maria may also refer

Pietro Mascagni (7 December 1863 – 2 August 1945) was an Italian composer primarily known for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece Cavalleria rusticana caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the Verismo movement in Italian dramatic music. While it was often held that Mascagni, like Ruggero Leoncavallo, was a "one-opera man" who could never repeat his first success, L'amico Fritz and Iris have remained in the repertoire in Europe (especially Italy) since their premieres. Mascagni wrote fifteen operas, an operetta, several orchestral and vocal works, and also songs and piano music. He enjoyed immense success during his lifetime, both as a composer and conductor of his own and other people's music and created a variety of styles in his operas.

Aleksandra Kurzak (Polish pronunciation: [alɛkˈsandra ˈkuʐak]; born 7 August 1977) is a Polish operatic soprano who has an international career primarily in Europe and the United States. In her earlier career she was a specialist in lyric and coloratura soprano roles in German and Italian repertoire, and transitioned into heavier roles in 19th-century Romantic and verismo operas. Trained in Wrocław and Hamburg, she started her career in Hamburg State Opera's ensemble. She received international attention after her debuts at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Royal Opera, London in the 2004/05 season. Apart from the Met and Covent Garden, she has performed leading roles with many opera companies, including the Vienna State Opera, Bavarian State Opera, and Paris Opera. Her notable roles include Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, Adina in L'elisir d'amore, Gilda in Rigoletto, Violetta in La traviata, and Nedda in Pagliacci. Since her marriage to Roberto Alagna in 2015, the couple has made frequent joint appearances on both concert and opera stages. Kurzak had been exclusive with Decca Records artist from January 2011 until moving to Sony Classical Records in May 2018.

Pagliacci (Italian pronunciation: [paʎˈʎattʃi]; literal translation, 'Clowns') is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who murders his wife Nedda and her lover Silvio on stage during a performance. Canio portrays on stage the character of Pagliaccio (Pierrot), while Nedda portays Pierrot's unfaithful lover Columbina. Pagliacci premiered at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan on 21 May 1892, conducted by Arturo Toscanini, with Adelina Stehle as Nedda, Fiorello Giraud as Canio, Victor Maurel as Tonio, and Mario Ancona as Silvio. Soon after its Italian premiere, the opera played in London (with Nellie Melba as Nedda) and in New York (on 15 June 1893, with Agostino Montegriffo as Canio). Pagliacci is the best-known of Leoncavallo's ten operas and remains a staple of the repertoire. Pagliacci is often staged with Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni, a double bill known colloquially as "Cav/Pag".

Sancta Maria is a Latin-language soprano aria arranged by Steven Mercurio based on the Intermezzo from the opera Cavalleria Rusticana, composed by Pietro Mascagni. It uses some of the same lyrics as Ave Maria and has become a popular concert piece. It also has been recorded by several singers, like Sissel Kyrkjebø, Charlotte Church, Katherine Jenkins and the tenors Andrea Bocelli and Friar Alessandro.

Fernando De Lucia (11 October 1860 or 1 September 1861 – 21 February 1925) was an Italian operatic tenor and singing teacher who enjoyed an internationally successful career. De Lucia was admired in his lifetime as a striking exponent of verismo parts — particularly Canio in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci — and of certain roles written by Verdi and Puccini. Since then, however, he has acquired a great posthumous reputation among record collectors for something different. They hail him as the exemplar of a type of graceful, ornamental tenor singing which originated prior to verismo and that went out of fashion for a long time, only to reemerge in recent years. Especially valued are the recordings that De Lucia made of Almaviva's arias and duets from Rossini's bel canto comic opera Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville).