Pagliacci (Players)

A short opera first performed in 1892 based on a Harlequin comedy. ‘Clowns’ – fun, laughter, entertainment, mirth. But offstage? In Leoncavallo’s 1892 drama of jealousy and revenge the boundaries between the imaginary world of theatre and the real passions of a troupe of travelling players are broken down with violent results. Canio exacts revenge on his unfaithful wife Nedda and her lover Silvio in the unexpected climax of a play, while their audience realize only gradually the horror unfolding before them. It is an opera of emotional indulgence, from the joyful birdsong that inspires Nedda’s ‘Stridono lass?’ to ‘Vesti la giubba’, Canio’s famous heartrending outburst of self-pity.