Pagliacci

Place: Teatro Regio Torino. Organizer: Teatro Regio Torino Pagliacci | Ruggero Leoncavallo Performance paired with Cavalleria rusticana Ruggero Leoncavallo said that the story of Pagliacci was true: a murder that he himself, as a child, saw committed by a clown-dressed killer. At the beginning of the opera appears a character, the Prologue, who feels the need to warn us that everything we will see is not false – as tradition has it – but an authentic «slice of life». But is it really so? Where is the boundary between reality and representation? And is that boundary, so fragile, enough to save a life in danger? First staged in 1892 and soon traditionally paired with Cavalleria rusticana , Pagliacci is an opera that shares some features with Mascagni’s one-act work: jealousy, the setting in southern Italy, the immediate emotional impact of many melodies, including the famous «Vesti la giubba» with its «Ridi, Pagliaccio». At the same time, however, it makes use of a completely original scenic conception, more subtle and cunning themes, and a very flexible orchestra, ready to shift at any moment into new colors and moods, fin