What is "pagliacci"

Pagliacci (, meaning "Clowns") is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It is the only Leoncavallo opera that is still widely performed. It is often staged by opera companies as a double bill with Cavalleria rusticana by Mascagni, known as Cav and Pag.

Pagliacci premiered at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan on 21 May 1892, conducted by Arturo Toscanini, with Adelina Stehle as Nedda, Fiorello Giraud as Canio, Victor Maurel as Tonio, and Mario Ancona as Silvio. Nellie Melba played Nedda in London in 1892, soon after the Italian premiere, and it was given in New York on 15 June 1893, with Agostino Montegriffo as Canio.

Love of a Clown, or '' Pagliacci'', is a 1948 Italian film based on Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci, directed by Mario Costa. The film stars Tito Gobbi and Gina Lollobrigida. It recounts the tragedy of Canio, the lead clown (or pagliaccio in Italian) in a commedia dell'arte troupe, his wife Nedda, and her lover, Silvio. When Nedda spurns the advances of Tonio, another player in the troupe, he tells Canio about Nedda's betrayal. In a jealous rage Canio murders both Nedda and Silvio. The only actor in the cast who also sang his role was the celebrated Italian baritone, Tito Gobbi, but the film is largely very faithful to its source material, presenting the opera nearly complete.

The film premiered on 16 April 1950 in the USA. It is notable for having been filmed largely in outdoor settings, much like a big-budgeted film version of a Broadway musical.

Pagliacci is a 1982 Italian film of Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci, directed by Franco Zeffirelli. All the actors, including Plácido Domingo and Teresa Stratas in the starring roles, were opera singers who sang their own parts. Pagliacci was shot at Milan's La Scala opera house and on a movie sound stage. Georges Prêtre conducted the Orchestra and Choir of La Scala.

The film was screened out of competition at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. It was also shown on Italian and U.S. television and brought Zeffirelli an Emmy Award for Best Director in the category of Classical Music Programming. In 2003, Pagliacci was released on DVD by Deutsche Grammophon, paired with Cavalleria rusticana (also starring Plácido Domingo).

Pagliacci can refer to:

• Pagliacci, an opera written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo
  • Pagliacci (1936 film), a 1936 British-Italian film based on the opera
  • Pagliacci (1948 film), a 1948 Italian film based on the opera
  • Pagliacci (1982 film), a 1982 Italian film based on the opera
• Pagliacci Pizza, a Seattle-based chain of restaurants

Pagliacci is a 1936 British musical film directed by Karl Grune and starring Richard Tauber, Steffi Duna and Diana Napier. It is an adaptation in English of the 1892 opera Pagliacci by Ruggiero Leoncavallo. The film is shot partially in color ( UFAcolor) and partially in black-and-white.