PAGLIACCI
The Show Must Go On
Composer & Librettist
Ruggero Leoncavallo
First performance
May 21, 1892, Teatro Dal Verme, Milan, Italy
Run time
Approximately 1 hrs 45 min
including one intermissions
Sung in Italian
English captions projected above the stage
Date
Friday, February 26, 7:30 pm
Sunday, February 28, 2:30 pm
Venue
The Egyptian Theatre
700 W Main St, Boise
Doors open
6:00 pm (Feb 26) | 1:00 pm (Feb 28)
Center Stage with Stacey
6:30 pm (Feb 26) | 1:30 pm (Feb 28)
Ticket Prices
Adult: $41 to $132
Senior: $33 to $119
Youth: $29 to $87
Military discount available
Groups
Save 20% on groups of 10 or more. Contact the box office at 208-345-3531.
All tickets show the “all-in” price, fees and tax included.
Synopsis
Prologue
Tonio the clown announces that what the audience is about to see is a true story and that actors have the same joys and sorrows as other people.
Act I
The same Sicilian village, 1949. A small theatrical company has just arrived and Canio, the head of the troupe, advertises the night’s performance to the gathered crowd. One of the villagers suggests that Tonio is secretly courting Canio’s young wife, Nedda. Canio warns them all that he will not tolerate any flirting offstage—life and theater are not the same. As the crowd disperses, Nedda is left alone, disturbed by her husband’s jealousy. She looks up to the sky, envying the birds their freedom. Tonio appears and tries to force himself on Nedda, but she beats him back, and he retreats, swearing revenge. In fact, Nedda does have a lover—Silvio, a young peasant, who suddenly appears. The two reaffirm their love, and Silvio persuades Nedda to run away with him that night. Tonio, who has returned and overheard the end of their conversation, alerts Canio, but Silvio manages to slip away unrecognized. Canio violently threatens Nedda, but she refuses to reveal her lover’s name. Beppe, another member of the troupe, restrains Canio, and Tonio advises him to wait until the evening’s performance to catch the culprit. Alone, Canio gives in to his despair—he must play the clown even though his heart is breaking.
Act II
That evening, the villagers assemble to watch the performance, Silvio among them. Beppe plays Harlequin, who serenades Columbine, played by Nedda. He dismisses her buffoonish servant Taddeo, played by Tonio, and over dinner the two sweethearts plot to poison Columbine’s husband Pagliaccio, played by Canio. When Pagliaccio unexpectedly appears, Harlequin slips away. Taddeo maliciously assures Pagliaccio of his wife’s innocence, which ignites Canio’s jealousy. Forgetting his role and the play, he demands that Nedda tell him the name of her lover. She tries to continue with the performance, the audience enthralled by its realism, until Canio snaps. In a fit of rage he stabs Nedda and then Silvio, who rushes to her aid. Turning to the horrified crowd, Tonio announces that the comedy is over.
About the Composer
Ruggero (or Ruggiero) Leoncavallo (23 April 1857 – 9 August 1919) was born to a household of comfortable means. Though the family originally was from Naples, his father’s career as a magistrate led them to other cities (including Montalto, which has some bearing on Pagliacci). Leoncavallo studied music at the Neapolitan Conservatory, then at Bologna University. It was there that he met Richard Wagner, who was in town for that city’s premiere of Rienzi, and the encounter had significant repercussions on the younger composer’s future works. He soon produced his first opera, Chatterton, set to text he had written himself.
After brief stints in Egypt and Paris (where he met several influential figures and lived la vie bohémienne), Leoncavallo settled down in Milan. He intended to create an epic work, an Italian “Ring Cycle,” titled Crespusculum. The first installment, I Medici, was submitted to the publishing house of Ricordi, which paid for the score but was in no hurry to produce the work; instead they asked Leoncavallo to work on Puccini’s libretto for Manon Lescaut. He would be one of five to attempt to satisfy the troublesome young maestro.
Victor Maurel, an acquaintance from Paris (and Verdi’s first Iago and Falstaff), was instrumental in making the Ricordi contacts. In return Leoncavallo wrote Pagliacci for him to perform and provided an extended prologue for his character Tonio. Somewhat indignant about I Medici, Leoncavallo offered Pagliacci to another publisher, Sonzogno, who snatched it up immediately and reaped the rewards. Sonzogno also purchased I Medici from Casa Ricordi and produced it the following year.
Leoncavallo’s next work was an adaptation of Murger’s Scènes de la vie de bohème for the operatic stage. This led to one of the more heated rivalries of the late 19th century, for Puccini announced he also was planning to produce an opera based on Henry Murger’s book, an intention he claimed to have had for several months. A contest soon ensued with the two composers airing their differences in the Italian newspapers. Of course, Puccini’s La bohème would later earn its place in posterity.
The composer is noted for a third work, Zazà, which was also well-received. The popularity of Leoncavallo’s operas in Germany led to a commission from the Kaiser. Der Roland von Berlin was the result, achieving nearly 40 performances. Following its premiere, Leoncavallo’s career seemed to wane. He tried his luck at operetta (La jeunesse de Figaro), followed by a return to verismo (Il piccolo Marat and Zingari), then a string of additional operettas. Toward the end of his life he endeavored to treat subjects of a more serious nature, but Edipo re and Prometeo lay incomplete at the time of his death in 1919.