About the work
Ruggero Leoncavallo's „Pagliacci" — when performed alone, without the Cavalleria pairing — is one of the best-known operas of Italian verismo. The two-act opera was premiered at La Scala in Milan in 1892 under Arturo Toscanini. Leoncavallo wrote the libretto himself, allegedly based on a real murder case in Calabria.
Plot
In a Calabrian village a travelling theatre troupe arrives. In the famous prologue the singer Tonio steps out in Pagliaccio costume before the curtain („Si può?") and explains the opera's programme: a true drama about people of flesh and blood. Act I: the troupe — led by the leader Canio with his young wife Nedda — prepares the performance. Tonio makes amorous advances to Nedda; she rejects him and whips him with her riding crop. In revenge Tonio betrays to Canio that Nedda is having an affair with the young peasant Silvio. Canio surprises the lovers but cannot recognise Silvio, who flees. Alone, Canio breaks down — the famous aria „Vesti la giubba" („Laugh, Pagliaccio"): he must play the betrayed husband in the performance. Act II: the performance begins. Within the comedy Canio (as „Pagliaccio") accuses Nedda („Colombina") of having a lover. Nedda plays along, but Canio loses the distance between theatre and reality. He demands the name of her lover — she refuses. Canio stabs her on stage. Silvio leaps to her aid — Canio stabs him too. Tonio steps forward: „La commedia è finita!"
Cultural significance
Pagliacci is, after „Cavalleria rusticana", the second iconic verismo opera and as part of the „Cav & Pag" double bill standard repertoire worldwide. Tonio's prologue (a theatrical-historical innovation: a singer speaks directly to the audience) and „Vesti la giubba" rank among the most-sung tenor arias. „Vesti la giubba" became the first record by Enrico Caruso (1907) to sell over a million copies. The role of Canio shapes every tenor career in the Italian repertoire.