Opera I Pagliacci (Concert version) Opera in two acts St. Petersburg Chamber Opera
Schedule for I Pagliacci (Concert version) Opera in two acts 2022
Composer: Ruggero Leoncavallo
Synopsis
PROLOGUE Before
the curtain rises Tonio appears dressed as a clown. He explains to the audience
what they are about to see on stage. "Real are the tears and suffering that you
are to see!" Tonio exclaims. "After all, an actor loves and hates just like
everyone else, and a passionate heart beats beneath his clownish
attire."
ACT
I The
drama begins. A company of travelling comedians arrives in a small Italian
village. The villagers joyfully greet Canio, the leader of the company, his
actress wife Nedda, Tonio the clown and Beppe the actor. The performance will be
in the evening, so one of the villagers suggests the comedians pass their time
in the tavern. Canio and Beppe agree readily and ask Tonio to go too, but he
declines. He is nursing a grievance against the companyґs jealous leader for
offending him. Canioґs jealousy is justified. In the village that they have come
to Nedda has a lover – the young peasant Silvio. Left alone, Nedda dreams
of meeting him. Having sneaked up unnoticed, Tonio declares his love for her.
Nedda responds to the hideous clownґs declarations with derisive laughter,
cooling his passions with a lash of a whip. Impotent with rage Tonio leaves,
threatening revenge. Meanwhile, despite the danger, Silvio appears, sincerely
and lovingly devoted to Nedda. He implores her to abandon her life on the road
and run away with him. Suddenly the wrathful voice of the companyґs leader is
heard, Canio having rushed back to call for the offended clown. Silvio, however,
manages to flee unrecognised. Canio insists that Nedda name her lover, but to no
avail. Then he leaps at her with a knife. Beppe pulls Canio off and Tonio calms
him, saying that the fugitive will return for the performance and there he will
somehow give himself away. The show will begin soon…
ACT
II A
merry crowd of villagers awaits the start of the entertainment. Tonio and Beppe
show the audience to their seats; Silvio is among them. The plot being acted out
is similar to the events in the actorsґ own lives. Taddeo (Tonio) loves
Colombina (Nedda), but she loves Arlecchino (Beppe). Pagliaccio (Canio)
interrupts their rendezvous. Colombinaґs
words of farewell to Arlecchino shock Canio – they are the same words Nedda
spoke to her lover as he left. His jealousy flares up once more and in a fit of
fury he stabs Nedda to death and then Silvio, who leaps onto the stage on
hearing his loverґs dying scream. "La
commedia и finita!" exclaims Tonio.
Schedule for I Pagliacci (Concert version) Opera in two acts 2022
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