Pagliacci

Pagliacci (The Clowns) is an opera in two acts and a prologue by Ruggiero Leoncavallo. The libretto, by the composer, is based on a true story. It premiered in Milan in 1892. It is often performed in a double bill with Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni. Pagliacci features one of the opera repertoire's most famous and popular arias, "Recitar/Vesti la giubba".

Pagliacci in popular culture

The 1928 American silent film Laugh, Clown, Laugh starring Lon Chaney was an adaptation of Pagliacci.

Related Topics:
Laugh, Clown, Laugh - Lon Chaney

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The western-style song "Pal-Yat-Chee", a pseudo-phonetic transliteration of the italian word "Pagliacci", containing a piece of the aria "Ridi, Pagliaccio / ...", is performed by Eddie Maxwell and Spike Jones in the album "Spike Jones Is Murdering the Classics". The song ends with a burp sound.

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Many older Americans might still associate "Recitar/Vesti la giubba" with a Rice Krispies commercial that aired in the 1960s. The opening line of Queen's 1984 single "It's A Hard Life" ("I don't want my freedom / There's no reason for living / With a broken heart") is sung to the melody of the aria's "Ridi, Pagliaccio / Sul tuo amore infranto!" (the melody deviates at the "With a broken heart" part, and then segues into the main song).

Related Topics:
Rice Krispies - 1960s - Queen - 1984

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An episode of the American sitcom Seinfeld featured a spoof of Pagliacci, with the major characters attending a performance of the opera while a deranged minor character disguises himself as Pagliaccio the clown to seek a tragic revenge.

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Pagliacci is referenced in the song, The Tears of a Clown by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles in the line, "Just like Pagliacci did, I keep my sadness hid."

Related Topics:
The Tears of a Clown - Smokey Robinson and the Miracles

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In the 1987 film The Untouchables, Al Capone (played by Robert DeNiro), is attending a performance of the opera, openly crying, when his henchman, Frank Nitti, enters and tells him that he has killed Chicago Police Officer Jim Malone. Capone then stops crying and begins to quielty laugh.

Related Topics:
1987 - The Untouchables - Al Capone - Robert DeNiro - Frank Nitti

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