| Mala vita | |
|---|---|
| Opera by Umberto Giordano | |
 Stage scene from Act 1 of the April 1892 performance at the Teatro San Carlo | |
| Librettist | Nicola Daspuro |
| Language | Italian |
| Based on | the play Mala vita by Salvatore Di Giacomo and Goffredo Cognetti |
| Premiere | 21 February 1892 Teatro Argentina, Rome |
Mala vita (Wretched Life) is an opera in three acts composed by Umberto Giordano to a libretto by Nicola Daspuro adapted from Salvatore Di Giacomo and Goffredo Cognetti's verismo play of the same name. Giordano's first full-length opera, Mala vita premiered on 21 February 1892 at the Teatro Argentina. It was subsequently performed in Naples, Vienna, Berlin and Milan, and various Italian cities over the next two years. In 1897 a considerably re-worked and revised version under the title Il voto (The Vow) premiered in Milan. Within a few years, both versions had disappeared from the repertoire. Amongst its rare modern revivals was the 2002 performance at the Teatro Umberto Giordano in Foggia which was recorded live and released on the Bongiovanni label.
Set in a slum neighborhood of Naples during the early 19th century, the opera's story (and that of the play on which it is based) revolves around a love triangle between Vito, a dyer afflicted with tuberculosis; Cristina, a prostitute whom Vito has vowed to marry in return for God curing him of his disease; and Amalia, Vito's mistress but married to Annetiello, a hard-drinking habitué of the brothel where Cristina worked. The action unfolds amidst the neighborhood's preparations for the Piedigrotta festival.