''Pagliacci'' is a 1982 Italian film of

Ruggero Leoncavallo Ruggero (or Ruggiero) Leoncavallo ( , , ; 23 April 18579 August 1919) was an Italian opera composer and librettist. Although he produced numerous operas and other songs throughout his career it is his opera '' Pagliacci'' (1892) that remained hi ...

's opera ''

Pagliacci ''Pagliacci'' (; literal translation, "Clowns") is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who m ...

'', directed by

Franco Zeffirelli Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli (12 February 1923 – 15 June 2019), was an Italian stage and film director, producer, production designer and politician. He was one of the most significant opera and theatre directors of the post-World War II era, ...

. All the actors, including

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...

and

Teresa Stratas Teresa Stratas (born May 26, 1938) is a retired operatic soprano from Canada of Greek descent. She is especially well known for her award-winning recording of Alban Berg's ''Lulu''. Early life and career Stratas was born Anastasia Stratakis to ...

in the starring roles, were opera singers who sang their own parts. ''Pagliacci'' was shot at Milan's

La Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

opera house and on a movie

sound stage A sound stage (also written soundstage) is a soundproof, large structure, building, or room with large doors and high ceilings, used for the production of theatrical film-making and television productions, usually located on a secured movie or ...

Georges Prêtre Georges Prêtre (; 14 August 1924 – 4 January 2017) was a French orchestral and opera conductor. Biography Prêtre was born in Waziers ( Nord), and attended the Douai Conservatory and then studied harmony under Maurice Duruflé and conducting ...

conducted the Orchestra and Choir of La Scala. The film was screened out of competition at the

1987 Cannes Film Festival The 40th Cannes Film Festival was held from 7 to 19 May 1987 in film, 1987. The Palme d'Or went to the ''Under the Sun of Satan (film), Sous le soleil de Satan'' by Maurice Pialat, a choice which was considered "highly controversial" and the prize ...

. It was also shown on Italian and U.S. television and brought Zeffirelli an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for Best Director in the category of Classical Music Programming. In 2003, ''Pagliacci'' was re-released on DVD by

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

(having earlier been released by

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

on DVD), paired with ''

Cavalleria rusticana ''Cavalleria rusticana'' (; Italian for "rustic chivalry") is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from an 1880 short story of the same name and subsequent play b ...

'' (also starring Plácido Domingo).

Plot

The story is set in southern Italy and recounts the tragedy of Canio, the lead clown (or ''pagliaccio'' in Italian) in a

commedia dell'arte (; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Charact ...

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 during a performance. Although Leoncavallo's opera was originally set in the late 1860s, Zeffirelli's production is updated to the period between

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Cast

as Nedda *

as Canio *

Juan Pons Joan Pons Álvarez ( Ciutadella, Spain, 8 August 1946) is a Spanish operatic baritone, known internationally as Juan Pons. Career Pons made his international début in 1980 at the Teatro alla Scala of Milan with ''Falstaff'', staged by Giorgio St ...

as Tonio * Alberto Rinaldi as Silvio * Florindo Andreolli as Beppe * Alfredo Pistone as First Peasant * Ivan Del Manto as Second Peasant

Production

The Italian television network RAI had originally wanted to broadcast a live performance of

's 1981 productions of ''

'' and ''

'' from the stage of

. Zeffirelli, however, requested to be allowed to film the productions as if they were movies instead. In part, because both operas starred popular tenor

, Unitel agreed to help finance the project. Zeffirelli insisted that Canadian soprano

play Nedda, even though she was not originally cast in the stage production. Over the course of only two days, the director filmed both works at the opera house when it was not in use. He had a wooden platform built over the front seats of the auditorium, where he placed his cameras to film the action onstage. He later did pick-up shots at an Italian film studio.

Soundtrack

For the movie's soundtrack,

conducted the orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala in the opera house's orchestra pit, while each of the film's performers sang their own parts onstage while the cameras rolled. No audience, however, was present and it was recorded in segments.

, who had frequently performed the role of Canio onstage since 1966, previously recorded the opera in 1971 under

Nello Santi Nello Santi (22 September 1931 – 6 February 2020) was an Italian conductor. He was associated with the Opernhaus Zürich for six decades, and was a regular conductor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. He was focused on Italian reperto ...

Philips Records Philips Records is a record label founded by the Dutch electronics company Philips. It was founded as Philips Phonographische Industrie in 1950. In 1946, Philips acquired the company which pressed records for British Decca's Dutch outlet in A ...

released the film's soundtrack on LP in 1985 and CD in 1990. It received a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

nomination for Best Opera Recording. In a review of the soundtrack, the

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Gazette A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...

'' wrote: "Sound effects are included, which lend to the singing a credibility that you do not always feel on recordings." The article also praised Domingo and Statas' singing and noted that the original analog recordings of the movie were digitally remastered prior to the soundtrack's release. Although they were filmed together, the ''Pagliacci'' recording was originally released separately from the soundtrack for ''

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pagliacci 1982 1982 films 1982 television films 1982 musical films Italian musical films Italian television films 1980s Italian-language films Films about clowns Films based on operas Films directed by Franco Zeffirelli Films about theatre Opera films 1980s Italian films