PAGLIACCI
Pagliacci opens with a prologue. There is an instrumental
introduction then Tonio the clown pokes his head through
the curtains ‘Si puo? si puo, signore?’ (By your leave,
ladies and gentlemen) and comes through and sings. The
prologue rehearses, or at least hints at the story of the
opera, and does so in musical phrases, heard again as the
opera progresses. After some action by the villagers who
are greeting the strolling players, Tonio is roughly brushed
aside by Canio, the leading man, as he offers to assist Canio’s
wife Nedda into their donkey cart. Canio and others of the
troupe go off for a drink, but Tonio stays behind, and the
villagers laugh, saying that he only wants to flirt with Nedda.
Canio replies that on stage he would laugh himself at such
a situation but were it to happen in real life .. . ‘Un tal
gioco, credetemi’, the game would not be worth the candle,
he warns them. Nedda is left alone, and admits to herself
that Canio’s words and manner frighten her. But then her
thoughts go back to her childhood as she listens to the bird-
song, ‘Stridono lassu’ (Forever flying through the boundless
sky). Tonio appears and Nedda rebuffs him as always, and
as he is bitterly leaving, he sees Silvio, a young farmer,
sreet Nedda. Enfuriated by this preferential treatment,
Tonio goes to the inn and fetches Canio who rushes back
with dagger drawn to kill Silvio.
Restrained by Tonio and another, he sees Silvio escape,
and as the others go off to prepare for the evening perform-
ance, he reflects on the everlasting tragedy of the clown
who must make others laugh while his own heart is breaking,
‘Vesti la giubba’.
The intermezzo follows between Acts 1 & 2, after which
there is an interlude as the company prepare the stage. In
the intricacies of this Act however, the actual play itself
ceases to be fiction any longer, as Pagliacco (Canio) de-
mands from his wife the name of her lover. ‘Pagliacco!
Pagliacco!’ she protests, trying to hold together the shreds
of the performance, but her husband, in an utterance as im-
passioned and dramatic as at the end of the preceding Act,
cries ‘No! Pagliacco non son’ (I am no longer Pagliacco, |
am a man who suffers deeply through you). Nedda mocks
him for his anguish, but to her horror he snatches a knife
from the table, confirming also the suspicions of the restive
audience that all is not as it should be. Driven to the extreme,
he stabs her repeatedly, crying that in her death agony she
will surely name her lover. Nedda calls upon Silvio, who
rushes onto the stage from below. Canio stabs him also,
then, as the knife falls from his hand, he addresses the
stupefied people, ‘La commedia e finita.’
CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA
The opera is in one act and is set in the square of a Sicilian
village. Before the rise of the curtain there is a long intro-
duction which makes use of various tunes to be heard later,
and which also employs the innovation of a serenade in Sicili-
an rhythm and dialect sung by Turiddu, a young peasant, to
Lola, the wife of Alfio. After this ingenious method of
putting the audience abreast of the situation, the curtain
rises on a colorful crowd scene. It is Easter Day and the
peasants are in a cheerful mood at the coming of spring,
but soon their voices fade into the distance and the mood
changes. Santuzza, a village girl, comes into the square to
the strains of a melody which instantly reveals that there is
tension in the air. She approaches the cottage which belongs
to Turiddu’s mother, Lucia, and calls her out. She asks
where Turiddu is, and when Lucia replies that he is away
in Franconfonte buying wine Santuzza says this must be
untrue, as he was seen in the village on the previous evening.
Lucia is surprised and asks her into the cottage, but San-
tuzza refuses saying that she has been excommunicated and
is an outcast. Lucia asks why she is worried about Turiddu,
and Santuzza replies that her heart is broken.
Before she can make any further confidences, however,
she is interrupted by the arrival of Alfio. He is a waggoner
and the crowd gathers to welcome him home and to join in
the gaiety of his song, which tells of the joys of the open
road and his delight in returning to Lola, who is always
waiting faithfully for his return. After his song, the crowd
disperses. Lucia tells Alfio how lucky he is always to be so
gay, and he asks her if she has any of her old wine to offer.
She replies that it is all gone but Turiddu is away buying
more. Alfio remarks that he saw Turiddu near his house
that very morning, but Santuzza quickly prevents Lucia
from questioning him any further. The organ is heard from
within the Church and a crowd of peasants assembles, while
Alfio leaves the two women and continues on his way home.
The Church choir is heard singing “Regina Coeli” in which
the peasants join, and this leads into the celebrated Easter
Hymn, sung by Santuzza, Lucia and both choruses. When
this is over the peasants all pass into the Church.
Lucia now asks Santuzza why she told her to be silent
when Alfio was speaking of Turiddu, and in her aria, “Voi
lo sapete, o Mamma” Santuzza pours out all her misery.
She explains that before Turiddu joined the army he and
Lola had been lovers, but while he was away she grew tired
of waiting and married Alfio. Turiddu then turned to San-
tuzza who loved him deeply in return, but recently Lola had
revived Turiddu’s old love for her, and had stolen him back.
Lucia goes into the Church to pray for Santuzza, and Tur-
iddu makes his appearance. Santuzza first questions him and
then accuses him of loving Lola. He first tries to avoid the
subject, but when further pressed admits that he loves San- -
tuzza no longer. Lola’s voice is suddenly heard offstage
singing a little peasant song. Entering the square, she sees
the other two together and after angry words have been
exchanged, she goes into the Church. Then follows a bitter
quarrel between Turiddu and Santuzza, “No, No, Turiddu.”
He spurns her protestations of love, and finally flings her
to the ground and dashes into the Church. Almost speech-
less with fury, Santuzza hisses out a curse on his Easter and
sinks again to the ground. Alfio enters and impetuously
she tells him of Lola’s unfaithfulness, “Ah! il Signore .yi#
manda compar Alfio.” He threatens Santuzza with death if
she is lying, but she soon convinces him and he calls wildly
for revenge. Santuzza realizes that she has sealed Turiddu’s
doom and is overwhelmed with horror and dismay.
Then follows the famous Intermezzo beginning with the
tune of the “Regina Coeli” and continuing with a new theme
played by the orchestra and the organ. The crowd comes
out of the church and Turiddu, in order to detain Lola,
invites everyone to join him in a drink from his mother’s
wine-shop, and toasts them with a rollicking song, “Viva il
vino spumeggiante.” Alfio joins them but insults Turiddu
by refusing his wine. The women see what is afoot and lead
Lola away, while the two men embrace and Turiddu bites
Alfio’s right ear as a formal challenge in Sicilian tradition.
Turiddu on a sudden impulse begs Alfio not to blame Lola
for what has happened, and remorsefully he asks what will
become of Santuzza if he should be killed. Alfio tells him
that he will be waiting in the garden and departs. Lucia
reappears and in a frenzied and dramatic solo, “Mama, quel
vino e generoso,” Turiddu bids her farewell and begs her to
look after Santuzza if he should not return. Lucia cannot
understand his extraordinary mood, and Turiddu, pretending
that it is only the wine that has turned his head, dashes off.
Lucia calls vainly after him. Santuzza comes running up,
and the square fills with people all anxiously waiting. A
cry is heard, “They have killed Turiddu!” The people scream
and the two women fall senseless to the ground, and the
opera ends with a full orchestral statement of the tense
dramatic tune which accompanied the first appearance of
Santuzza.
Printed in U.S.A.
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