I Pagliacci

    May 12-20, 2012

    Opera in two acts
    Music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo
    Premiered 1892 in Milan
    Sung in Italian with English translations projected above the stage
    Running time is 1:40

    In the ultimate backstage drama, laughter becomes heartbreak in Leoncavello’s tragic tale I Pagliacci. The loves and jealousies of a group of traveling players spill into their performances, with tragic results. Even as the clown takes the stage to make his audience laugh, he cannot hide the knowledge of his wife’s betrayal and vows to avenge the crime.

    IDA AND CONRAD H. SMITH ENDOWMENT
    FOR MICHIGAN OPERA THEATRE
    Saturday, May 12 Performance Sponsor

    Pagliacci

    Before the opera begins, the clown Tonio steps before the curtain to say that the author has written about actors, who know the same joys and sorrows as other people.

    PART I. Southern Italy, around 1865-70. Excited villagers mill about as a small theatrical road company arrives at the outskirts of a Calabrian town. Canio, head of the troupe, describes that night’s offering, and when someone jokingly suggests that the hunchback Tonio is secretly enamoured of his young wife, Canio warns he will tolerate no flirting with Nedda. As vesper bells call the women to church, the men go to the tavern, leaving Nedda alone. Disturbed by her husband’s vehemence and suspicious glances, she envies the freedom of the birds soaring overhead. Tonio appears and indeed tries to make love to her, but she scorns him. Enraged, he grabs her, and she lashes out with a whip, getting rid of him but inspiring an oath of vengeance. Nedda in fact does have a lover — Silvio, who now arrives and persuades her to run away with him at midnight. But Tonio, who has seen them, hurries off to tell Canio. Before long the jealous husband bursts in on the guilty pair. Silvio escapes, and Nedda refuses to identify him, even when threatened with a knife. Beppe, another player, has to restrain Canio, and Tonio advises him to wait until evening to catch Nedda’s lover. Alone, Canio sobs that he must play the clown though his heart is breaking.

    PART II. The villagers, Silvio among them, assemble to see the play Pagliaccio e Colombina. In the absence of her husband, Pagliaccio (played by Canio), Colombina (Nedda) is serenaded by her lover Arlecchino (Beppe), who dismisses her buffoonish servant, Taddeo (Tonio). The sweethearts dine together and plot to poison Pagliaccio, who soon arrives; Arlecchino slips out the window. With pointed malice, Taddeo assures Pagliaccio of his wife’s innocence, firing Canio’s real-life jealousy. Forgetting the script, he demands that Nedda reveal her lover’s name. She tries to continue with the play, the audience applauding the realism of the “acting.” Maddened by her defiance, Canio stabs Nedda and then Silvio, who has rushed forward from the crowd to help her. Canio cries out that the comedy is ended.

    -courtesy of Opera News

    • Conductor: Steven Mercurio
      Steven Mercurio
      stevenMercurioPagliacci marks American maestro Steven Mercurio’s seventeenth production with MOT, after last conducting Rigoletto in 2011. He has conducted more than forty different operas in six languages in many of the world’s leading opera houses, and for five years was Music Director of the Spoleto Festival and Principal Conductor of... Learn More.
    • Director: Bernard Uzan
      Bernard Uzan
      bernardUzanHaving most recently directed Rigoletto in the spring of 2011, Bernard Uzan’s long history with MOT began with his debut as director for Faust in 1983. A native of France, his extensive background in the arts includes success as a general director, artistic director, stage director, librettist, designer, actor, novelist,... Learn More.
    • Chorus Master: Suzanne Mallare Acton
      Suzanne Mallare Acton
      As long-term Chorus Master of MOT, Suzanne Acton has received wide critical acclaim for her choral direction involving more than 125 productions in seven languages. Conducting credits include West Side Story, Barber of Seville, Music Man, Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, Daughter of the Regiment, Carmen, La Traviata and Die... Learn More.
    • Set Designer: Claude Girard
      Claude Girard
      Quebec native Claude Girard began his design career in 1967 at Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. He has since designed sets, costumes and lighting for productions including Die Entführung aus dem Serail, La Cenerentola, Romeo and Juliet, Norma, La Bohème, Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, and Madame Butterfly, among many others, for... Learn More.
    • Lighting Designer:
    • Canio: Antonello Palombi
      Antonello Palombi
      antonelloPalombiItalian tenor Antonello Palombi last performed with the company in 2010’s Tosca. In the current season and beyond, engagements include Radames in Aida and Calaf in Turandot at Dallas Opera, Calaf and Foresto in Attila at Seattle Opera, and Manrico in Il Trovatore at Opera Carolina. Among multiple other engagements... Learn More.
      (12, 16, 19), John Pickle
      John Pickle
      American tenor John Pickle makes his company debut this spring. His career encompasses opera, oratorio, recital and concert, and he adapts to a variety of genres. Upcoming engagements include Calaf in Turandot with Mobile Opera; Canio with Western Plains Opera; and Tagliapietra Gauro, Ori Dedo, Pietro Orseolo and Giorgio Tradonico... Learn More.
      (18, 20)
    • Nedda: Jill Gardner
      Jill Gardner
      http://www.michiganopera.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=4100&action=edit#American soprano Jill Gardner makes her company debut this spring. In the current season and beyond, performances include Cio-Cio San in Madame Butterfly at Arizona Opera and Tri-Cities Opera, and Beethoven’s Mass in C Major with the Wichita Symphony. In recent seasons, Ms. Gardner made her Lyric Opera of Chicago... Learn More.
    • Tonio: Gordon Hawkins
      Gordon Hawkins
      gordonHawkinsAmerican baritone Gordon Hawkins last appeared with the company in 2006’s Porgy and Bess. He recently made a triumphant San Francisco Opera debut as Alberich in Francesca Zambello’s highly-acclaimed Ring Cycle. Considered the leading Alberich in the world, he has also performed the role with Washington National Opera, Teatro de... Learn More.
    • Silvio: Luis Ledesma
      Luis Ledesma
      luisLedesmaMexican baritone Luis Ledesma returns to MOT after his company debut as Germont in 2008’s La Traviata. His career already includes appearances in several international opera houses around the word, including Teatro alla Scala in Milan and the Liceu in Barcelona. His current season features appearances as Tonio in Pagliacci... Learn More.
    • Beppe: Philippe Pierce
      Philippe Pierce
      philippePierceTenor Philippe Pierce makes his company debut this spring. In the current season and beyond, he sings the role of Gerard/Narrator in Philip Glass’s Les Enfants Terribles with North Carolina Opera, Gastone in La Traviata with Nashville Opera, and Spoletta in Tosca with Opera Western Reserve. Recent engagements included Gastone... Learn More.


    Information to come.

    I Pagliacci

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