Pagliacci

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Operas by Ruggero Leoncavallo
Pagliacci (1892) I Medici (1893) La bohème (1897) Zazà (1900) Are You There? (1913)
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Pagliacci (Players, or Clowns) is an opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It recounts the tragedy of a jealous husband in a commedia dell'arte troupe. (Its name is sometimes incorrectly rendered as I Pagliacci with a definite article.)

Pagliacci premiered at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan on May 21, 1892, conducted by Arturo Toscanini with Adelina Stehle as Nedda, Fiorello Giraud as Canio, Victor Maurel as Tonio, and Mario Ancona as Silvio.

Since 1893, it has usually been performed in a double bill with Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana. It is the only one of Leoncavallo's operas that is still widely staged.

Contents 1 History 2 Roles 3 Synopsis 3.1 Prologue 3.2 Act I 3.3 Act II 4 Orchestration 5 Notable arias 6 Selected recordings 7 Media 8 References

[edit] History

Around 1890, when Cavalleria Rusticana premiered, Leoncavallo was a little-known composer. After seeing Cav's success, he decided to write a similar opera. It was to be in one act and composed in the verismo style. A lawsuit was brought against him for plagiarism of the libretto. Leoncavallo's defense was that the plot of the opera was based on a true story he had witnessed as a child. He claimed that a servant had taken him to a commedia performance in which the events of the opera had actually occurred. He also claimed that his father, who was a judge, had led the criminal investigation, and that he had documents supporting these claims. None of this evidence has ever appeared. Today most critics agree that the libretto was inspired by an 1887 play of Catulle Mendès entitled La Femme de Tabarin. Leoncavallo was living in Paris at the time of the premiere, and it is likely that he saw the play.^[1]

Pagliacci was an instant success and it remains popular today. It contains one of opera's most famous and popular arias, Recitar! ... Vesti la giubba (literally, To perform! ... Put on the costume, but more often known in English as On with the motley). One of Enrico Caruso's recordings of Vesti la giubba was the first record to sell one million copies. In 1907, Pagliacci became the first entire opera to be recorded by the Puerto Rican tenor Antonio Paoli. In 1931, it became the first complete opera to be filmed with sound, in a now obscure version starring the tenor Fernando Bertini, in his only film, as Canio, and the San Carlo Opera Company. ^[2]

As a staple of the standard operatic repertoire, it appears as number 14 on Opera America's list of the 20 most-performed operas in North America^[3].

[edit] Roles

Role	Role in Commedia	Voice type	Premiere Cast, May 21, 1892 (Conductor: Arturo Toscanini )
Canio, head of the troupe	Pagliaccio	tenor	Fiorello Giraud
Nedda, Canio's wife, in love with Silvio	Colombina, Pagliaccio's wife, in love with Arlecchino	soprano	Adelina Stehle
Tonio, the fool	Taddeo	baritone	Victor Maurel
Beppe, actor	Arlecchino, Colombina's lover	tenor
Silvio, Nedda's lover		baritone	Mario Ancona
Chorus of villagers

[edit] Synopsis

The story is set in Calabria, near Montalto, on the Feast of the Assumption, between 1865 and 1870.

[edit] Prologue

During the overture, the curtain rises. From behind a second curtain, Tonio, dressed as his commedia character Taddeo, addresses the audience. (Si può?... Si può?... Signore! Signori! ... Un nido di memorie.) He reminds the audience that actors have feelings too, and that the show is about real humans.

[edit] Act I

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the commedia troupe enters the village, and the villagers cheer. Canio describes the night's performance: The troubles of Pagliaccio. He says the play will begin at "ventitre ore". This is an agricultural method of time-keeping, and means the play will begin an hour before sunset. As Nedda steps down from the cart, Tonio offers his hand, but Canio pushes him aside and helps her down himself. The villagers suggest drinking at the tavern. Canio and Beppe accept, but Tonio stays behind. The villagers tease Canio that Tonio is planning an affair with Nedda. Canio warns everyone that while he may act the foolish husband in the play, in real life he will not tolerate other men making advances to Nedda. Shocked, a villager asks if Canio really suspects her. He says no, and sweetly kisses her on the forehead. As the church bells ring vespers, he and Beppe leave for the tavern, and Nedda is left alone.

Nedda, who is cheating on Canio, is frightened by Canio's vehemence ("Qual fiamma avea nel guardo"), but the birdsong comforts her ("Stridono lassu"). Tonio returns and confesses his love for her, but she laughs. Enraged, Tonio grabs Nedda, but she takes a whip, strikes him, and drives him off. Silvio, who is Nedda's lover, comes from the tavern, where he has left Canio and Beppe drinking. He asks Nedda to elope with him after the performance, and though she is afraid, she agrees. Tonio, who has been eavesdropping, leaves to inform Canio and catch Silvio and Nedda together. Canio and Tonio return, and as Silvio escapes, Nedda calls after him, "I will always be yours!"

Canio chases Silvio but does not catch him and does not see his face. He demands that Nedda tell him the name of her lover, but she refuses. He threatens her with a knife, but Beppe disarms him. Beppe insists that they prepare for the performance. Tonio tells Canio that her lover will surely give himself away at the play. Canio is left alone to put on his costume and prepare to laugh (Vesti la giubba - "Put on the costume").

[edit] Act II

As the crowd arrives, Nedda, costumed as Colombina, collects their money. She whispers a warning to Silvio, and the crowd cheers as the play begins.

Colombina's husband Pagliaccio has gone away until morning, and Taddeo is at the market. She anxiously awaits her lover Arlecchino, who soon serenades her from beneath her window. Taddeo returns and confesses his love, but she mocks him and lets in Arlecchino through the window. He boxes Taddeo's ears and kicks him out of the room, and the audience laughs.

Arlecchino and Colombina dine, and he delivers a sleeping potion. When Pagliaccio returns, Colombina will drug him and elope with Arlecchino. Taddeo bursts in, warning that Pagliaccio is suspicious of his wife and is about to return. As Arlecchino escapes through the window, Colombina tells him, "I will always be yours!"

As Canio enters, he hears Nedda and exclaims, "Name of God! Those same words!" He tries to continue the play but loses control and demands to know her lover's name. Nedda, hoping to continue the play, calls Canio by his stage name "Pagliaccio" to remind him of the audience's presence. He answers with his arietta: No! Pagliaccio non son! and states that if his face is pale, it is not from the stage makeup but from the shame she has brought to him. The crowd, impressed by his emotional, and very real, performance, cheers him.

Nedda, trying again to continue the play, admits that she has been visited by the very innocent Arlecchino. Canio, furious and forgetting the play, demands the name of her lover. Nedda swears she will never tell him, and the crowd finally realizes they are not acting. Silvio begins to fight his way toward the stage. Canio, grabbing a knife from the table, stabs Nedda. As she dies she calls, "Help! Silvio!" Canio stabs Silvio and declares, "La Commedia è finita!" ("The play is over!") Originally, Tonio had the final line, "La commedia è finita!" but it has traditionally been given to Canio. Leoncavallo himself sanctioned this substitution.

[edit] Orchestration

The orchestra consists of 2 flutes, 1 piccolo, 2 oboes, 1 cor anglais, 2 clarinets, 1 bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 tuba, 2 harps, timpani, tubular bells, percussion (triangle, cymbals, bass drum, glockenspiel) and strings. Additionally, there is an onstage violin, oboe, trumpet, and bass drum.

[edit] Notable arias

• Prologue ("Si può? ... Signore! Signori! ... Un nido di memorie") (Tonio)
• "Un tal gioco" (Canio)
• "Stridono lassu" (Nedda)
• "Nedda! Silvio, a quest'ora" (Silvio, Nedda)
• "E fra quest'anise...E allor perchè" (Silvio)
• "Vesti la giubba" (Canio)
• "Ohe! Ohe! Presto!" (Chorus)
• "O Colombina" (Beppe)
• "No, Pagliaccio non son" (Canio)

[edit] Selected recordings

Paired with Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana

Year	Cast (Canio, Nedda, Tonio)	Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra	Label
1954	Giuseppe di Stefano, Maria Callas, Tito Gobbi	Tullio Serafin, La Scala Orchestra and Chorus	Audio CD: EMI Classics Cat: 0724358683028
??	Luciano Pavarotti, Mirella Freni, Ingvar Wixell	Giuseppe Patanè, National Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus	Audio CD: Decca Classics Cat: 00289 414 5902
??	Franco Corelli, Lucine Amara, Tito Gobbi	Lovro von Matacic La Scala Orchestra and Chorus	Audio CD: EMI Classics Cat: 0077776396750
1981	Plácido Domingo, Teresa Stratas, Juan Pons	Georges Prêtre La Scala Orchestra and Chorus (Film - directed by Franco Zeffirelli)	DVD: Deutsche Grammophon Cat: 0044007 34033

Paired with Puccini’s Il Tabarro

Year	Cast (Canio, Nedda, Tonio)	Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra	Label
1994	Luciano Pavarotti, Teresa Stratas, Juan Pons	James Levine, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus	DVD: Deutsche Grammophon Cat: 00440 073 4024

Stand-alone recordings:

Year	Cast (Canio, Nedda, Tonio)	Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra	Label
1934	Beniamino Gigli, Pacetti, Basiola	Franco Ghione, La Scala Orchestra and Chorus	Audio CD: Naxos Cat:8.110155
??	Carlo Bergonzi, Joan Carlyle, Giuseppe Taddei	Herbert von Karajan, La Scala Orchestra and Chorus	Audio CD: Deutsche Grammophon Cat: 449 727-2
1953	Jussi Björling, Victoria de los Angeles, Leonard Warren	Renato Cellini RCA Victor Orchestra and Chorus	Audio CD: EMI Classics Cat: 0724358565027
??	Richard Tucker, Lucine Amara, Giuseppe Valdengo	Fausto Cleva Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus	LP: Columbia Masterworks Records
1971	Placido Domingo, Montserrat Caballe, Sherrill Milnes	Nello Santi London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus	Audio CD: RCA

Note: "Cat:" is short for catalogue number by the label company; "ASIN" is amazon.com product reference number.

[edit] Media

[edit] References

Footnotes

1. ^ San Francisco Opera Guild, 2003; Sansone, M., 1989
2. ^ The Durbeck Archive
3. ^ OPERA America's "The Top 20" list of most-performed operas

Bibliography

• Pagliacci Libretto in the original Italian
• Pagliacci Libretto in English translation
• San Francisco Opera Guild, 2003, Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci: A Teacher's Guide and Resource Book (accessed 23 May 2007)
• Sansone, Matteo, 1989, 'The Verismo of Ruggero Leoncavallo: A Source Study of Pagliacci', Music & Letters, Vol. 70, No. 3 (Aug., 1989).
• Sims, Michael, 2007, 'Cavalleria Rusticana, I Pagliacci, and the Verismo Style', Programme notes, Concert Opera Boston (accessed 21 May 2007)