I Pagliacci ('The Clowns' or 'Strolling Players') is a tragic opera that cultivated in the late 19th-century a new Italian literary movement style called verismo, meaning 'realism' or 'truthful.' Composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo in 1892, he also wrote the libretto. Linked in 'realism' style with Leoncavallo's Pagliacci is Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana.
- First Performance: Teatro dal Verme, Milan, May 21, 1892
- Language: Italian
- Setting: Near Montalto, Calabria
- Time: Feast of the Assumption, 1865-70.
Pagliacci's Background
Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera I Pagliacci ('The Clowns' or 'Strolling Players') refers to a small group of strolling players. It follows their loves and jealousies, which spill over into their stage performance, climaxing in murder. Even though the character knows his wife has betrayed him, the poor clown has to go on stage and continue to make people laugh.
Main Characters in Pagliacci
- Canio, (Pagliaccio), Leader of the troupe (Tenor)
- Nedda (Colombina) His wife (Soprano)
- Tonio (Taddeo) A player (Baritone)
- Beppe (Arleccino) A player (Tenor)
- Silvio A villager (Baritone)
Plot Summary of I Pagliacci
From behind the curtain, Tonio the clown announces to the audience that the dangers of love will be presented on stage, that actors are human too, and have real feelings.
Act 1
Entrance to a village, with traveling theatre erected.
The people greet the arrival of Canio's troupe. As the players prepare their show, Canio says he expects the audience to laugh at his wife's infidelity in the play. Canio and Beppe are invited to the inn but Tonio says he must look after the donkey. A villager's suggestion that he is waiting behind to court Nedda provokes an outburst from Canio who says that stage and life are quite different, but that if Nedda deceived him in real life, he would avenge such treachery.
When Nedda is left alone, Tonio tries to kiss her. She strikes him with a whip. He is insulted and vows revenge. In reality, Nedda is in love with Silvio, a villager who has urged her to elope with him that very night. She agrees. Tonio, who overhears the plan summons Canio from the inn. Canio rushes at Silvio but Nedda intervenes and he escapes. She refuses to tell Canio who her lover is. Canio realizes he has become the jealous husband and vows to enact in the play accordingly. He also sings his famous self-pitying lament "… laugh Pagliaccio, laugh!"
Act 2
Same traveling theatre erected in the village.
After the short intermezzo, we see the audience assembling for the play. The play begins. Colombina (Nedda) awaits her lover. Pagliaccio (Canio) is away and Taddeo (Tonio) has gone to market. Arlecchino (Beppe) serenades her but they are interrupted by Taddeo's (Tonio) return. Arlecchino jumps in through the window and kicks him out. The lovers prepare to elope. Canio, now appearing as Pagliaccio, breaks out and demands to know her lover's name. He declares that he seeks vengeance. He hears Colombina telling her lover to flee in the same words she used earlier by Nedda. The crowd (other than Silvio) applaud the acting. But Canio still fiercely demands her lover's name. Nedda tries to escape but he stabs her to death. Silvio rushes to rescue her but Canio stabs him too. Amid the crowd's confusion Canio says to the audience: "La commedia è finita!" (The comedy is finished.) The "laugh Pagliaccio" phrase is heard fortissimo in the orchestra.
Other Operas by Leoncavallo:
- I Medici (The Medici) 1893
- La Bohème 1897
- Zazà 1900
- Zingari (Gypsies) 1912
- Edipo Re (King Oedipus), produced posthumously 1913
Sources:
The Harrap Opera Guide by Alexander Morley (1979)
Opera, Dorling Kindersley (DK) Eyewitness Companions (2006)
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