Ruggiero Leoncavallo: Pagliacci (Opera Explained Series) Naxos Audio CD

Opera Explained: LEONCAVALLO - Pagliacci (Smillie)



Sample Track


An Introduction to... LEONCAVALLO Pagliacci
Timson, David, reader



Background - Introduction 02:38


Opera Explained
An Introduction to...LEONCAVALLO: Pagliacci

Written by Thomson Smillie
Narrated by David Timson
1 CD
12-page booklet
ISBN: 1-84379-068-8
8.558143

Pagliacci may be the most completely compelling short opera in the repertory and owes much of its impact to a brilliant story based, it is said, on true life and told through the device of a play-within-a-play. The action is set in Calabria in the deep south of Italy where the jealousies and illicit passions of a troupe of strolling actors precisely intersect with the play they are performing - to both touching and tragic effect. Leoncavallo was his own librettist, and his literary skills, allied to great melodic creativity, guarantee that in its two short acts Pagliacci - 'Clowns' - delivers an overwhelming emotional experience.