Pagliacci (Players, or Clowns) is an opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It recounts the tragedy of a jealous husband in a commedia dell'arte troupe. (Its name is sometimes incorrectly rendered as I Pagliacci with a definite article.)
Pagliacci premiered at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan on May 21, 1892, conducted by Arturo Toscanini with Adelina Stehle as Nedda, Fiorello Giraud as Canio, Victor Maurel as Tonio, and Mario Ancona as Silvio.
Since 1893, it has usually been performed in a double bill with Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana. It is the only one of Leoncavallo's operas that is still widely staged.
Around 1890, when Cavalleria Rusticana premiered, Leoncavallo was a little-known composer. After seeing Cavs success, he decided to write a similar opera. It was to be in one act and composed in the verismo style. A lawsuit was brought against him for plagiarism of the libretto. Leoncavallo's defense was that the plot of...
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