Organization

Conductor

Georges Prêtre

Stage director

Franco Zeffirelli

Set designer

Gianni Quaranta

Singer

Soprano

Teresa Stratas

Nedda

Tenor

Plácido Domingo

Canio

Baritone

Alberto Rinaldi

Silvio

Juan Pons

Tonio

Teatro alla Scala

Italian

Pagliacci

Milan

Italy

The career of the Italian theatre, film and opera director Franco Zeffirelli, born February 12, 1923 in Florence, spans more than half a century. When he saw Lawrence Olivier in the film "Henry V" in the late 1940s, he gave up his architecture studies and turned to the theater. He began as an actor in various theatrical productions by Luchino Visconti. He later worked as Visconti's assistant and began his career as a set designer and director in the 1950s. In 1965 his first film was released: Puccini's "La Bohème" under the musical direction of Herbert von Karajan. It is based on Zeffirelli's Milan production of 1963 and is still considered a classic of opera films. Zeffirelli became known far beyond the field of opera with his Shakespeare film adaptations "The Taming of the Shrew" (1967, with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton) and "Romeo and Juliet", for which he was nominated for an Oscar as best director in 1969. To this day he is a successful director and set designer in the world of film, opera and drama.

Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera "Pagliacci" (1892) belongs to the genre of verismo, an operatic style that originated in Italy at the end of the 19th century and favors naturalness on stage and dramatic material taken from everyday life.
The plot: A comedy troupe makes guest appearances in an Italian village. Their leader Canio jealously watches his young wife Nedda, who is having an affair with the farmer Silvio. When the same situation is played out on stage in the evening, reality breaks into the game brutally: Canio draws the knife and attacks Nedda and Silvio...
Leoncavallo came up with the idea for this opera when he read the story on the scandalous page of his newspaper about a man who, as an actor in a southern Italian theater company, stabbed his wife to death during the performance - just as the play intended.
"It's about the everyday theater of life," explains Franco Zeffirelli, "everyone plays their part in it. You're acting. You're joking and playing pranks. You're hungry, but you can still laugh. You love each other - and kill each other." Zeffirelli filmed "Pagliacci" at La Scala in Milan and in the studio. "For me, it won't be a film adaptation of an opera like we're used to from the past," promised Franco Zeffirelli before filming began. His film adaptation of "I Pagliacci" won the 1985 Emmy Award for Best Director in the Classical Music Program category.

Pagliacci Leoncavallo

Public

German

Approved

Accordionist

Instrumentalist

Archlutenist

Baroque Flutist

Baroque Oboist

Baroque Trumpetist

Bassist

Bassoonist

Cellist

Clarinetist

Contrabassist

Cornettist

Flutist

Guitarist

Harper

Harpsichordist

Hornist

Lutenist

Mandoline Player

Musette de cour Player

Oboist

Organist

Percussionist

Pianist

Recorder Player

Saxophonist

Tenor Violinist

Timpani

Trombonist

Trumpeter

Tuba Player

Vibraphonist

Viola Pomposa Player

Viola da gamba

Viola d’amore Player

Violinist

Violino Piccolo Player

Violist

Actor

Broadcasting

Choir

Choreographer

Chorus Director

Chorus master

Composer

Costume designer

Dancer

Dramaturge

Executive producer

Extra

Hairstylist

Illustrator

Librettist

Lighting designer

Makeup artist

Orchestra

Orchestra Operations

Other

Photographer

Poet

Repetiteur

Sound designer

Stage Manager

Teacher

Translator

Video designer

Vocal coach

Wig & Makeup Designer

Writer

Writing and performance

Mezzo-soprano

Bass-baritone

Contralto

Countertenor

Bass

Alto

Child vocalist

Continuo

Silent

Spoken

The story is set in southern Italy and recounts the tragedy of Canio, the lead clown (or pagliaccio in Italian) in a commedia dell'arte troupe, his wife Nedda, and her lover, Silvio. When Nedda spurns the advances of Tonio, another player in the troupe, he tells Canio about Nedda's betrayal. In a jealous rage Canio murders both Nedda and Silvio during a performance. Although Leoncavallo's opera was originally set in the late 1860s, Zeffirelli's production is updated to the period between World War I and World War II. [4]

English

Pagliacci by Leoncavallo, Sun 01 Aug 1982, From (1982/1982), Directed by Franco Zeffirelli,, Conductor Georges Prêtre

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Programme, About & Synopsis

Photos

Further reading

Performance Dates & Venues

Venues