DomStufen-Festspiele in Erfurt 2004
A troupe of traveling actors arrives in town. Canio, the troupe’s leader, announces the evening’s performance. Tonio, the hunchbacked member of the group, makes unwanted advances toward Canio’s wife, Nedda. She firmly rejects him, and Tonio, humiliated, vows revenge. Soon after, he spies on Nedda as she meets her lover, the farmer Silvio. The two plan to run away together after the show. Tonio alerts Canio, hoping to expose the lovers, but Silvio narrowly escapes. Canio, furious, demands to know the name of Nedda’s lover, but she refuses to speak. The show must go on.
As night falls, the audience gathers in eager anticipation. Silvio is among them. The performance begins, following the tradition of improvised commedia dell’arte. But Canio, tormented and heartbroken, begins to lose himself in his role. Onstage, he confronts Nedda, once again demanding the name of her lover. When she stays silent, he draws a dagger and kills her. Silvio rushes to her aid—only to be slain by Canio as well.
"La commedia è finita!" — “The play is over,” Canio declares to the stunned audience.
Pagliacci (The Clown) belongs to the Italian fin de siècle and reflects the musical style of verismo – a movement focused on realism and the raw emotional lives of ordinary people. The music oscillates between the structure of a traditional number opera and the sweeping continuity of music drama, aiming to express both the inner turmoil and outer actions of its characters. All roles revolve around the world of itinerant performers and are drawn with a stark, realistic lens, complete with their desires, passions, and flaws.
Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857–1919) owes his fame to this one opera, Pagliacci. In 1890, the Sonzogno publishing house announced a competition—for one-act operas. Leoncavallo submitted I Pagliacci, a two-act work lasting about 80 minutes. He lost—because his submission didn’t meet the formal criteria. However, the jury was so impressed that they recommended a performance anyway. The rest is operatic history: Pagliacci quickly earned its place as a cornerstone of the European opera repertoire.
Premiere / August 14, 2004
Cast
Canio Luis Rodriguez, Robert Wörle | Nedda Karine Babajanian, Kelly God | Tonio Peter Dittmann, Juan Carlos Mera-Euler | Silvio Young Joo Kim, Lionel Lhote | Beppe Jörg Rathmann, Thomas Stückemann | Bauer Manuel Meyer, Alexander Schmidt
Film Concert The Planets
Suite for large orchestra, op. 32, by Gustav Holst
Erfurt Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor / Karl Prokopetz