Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945), Italian composer, born in Leghorn (Livorno). He studied with the Italian composer Alfredo Soffredini. Mascagni's most important work is the opera Cavalleria Rusticana (1890). Based on a play by the Italian writer Giovanni Verga, it exemplifies the Italian operatic style called verismo (Italian, “realism”), which stresses the violent behaviour of people under great emotional strain. His success with verismo influenced the Italian composer Ruggero Leoncavallo.

Mascagni wrote 17 operas, but only Cavalleria Rusticana and L'amico Fritz (1891) are regularly performed and recorded today.