Why Evanston music director thinks ‘Pagliacci’ is an opera for everyone
What do these famous cultural references have in common? The fifth episode in the first season of the 1960s television show Batman, which introduced Cesar Romero as the Joker; the Agatha Christie short story, Swan Song; the Marvin Gaye song, (I’m Afraid) The Masquerade is Over; the 1970 hit by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Tears of a Clown; the...
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The Tears of a Clown and the Realism of Florida Grand Opera's I Pagliacci
When Florida Grand Opera opens the curtain on its midseason production, I Pagliacci, it will be close to 82 years to the day that the Miami Opera Guild, the precursor to Florida Grand Opera, performed its inaugural production of Ruggero Leoncavallo's Italian opera. While the anniversary may evoke some nostalgia, today's audiences will see a differe...
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Pagliacci: An Immersive Extravaganza
The Boston Lyric Opera’s immersive version of Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci transformed the utilitarian Steriti Memorial Ice Skating Rink into a circus wonderland. Sung in English and Italian, this production, which opened Friday and continues through October 6th, intensifies the realism and immediacy of the familiar verismo two-acter. While curr...
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Out & About: Opera Roanoke's “Pagliacci”
Friday September 20, 7:30 p.m. and Sunday September 22, 2:30 p.m. Shaftman Performance Hall, Jefferson Center, 541 Luck Ave. S.W., Roanoke VA. Before Pennywise, there was “Pagliacci.” OK, so Stephen King’s mega-selling horror book and movie franchise “It” and Italian composer Ruggero Leoncavallo’s 1892 operatic masterpiece don’t actually have much...
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