Pagliacci: The Composer

Ruggero Leoncavallo (1858-1919) is best known for Pagliacci, a violent opera exploring the limits of social tolerance. He studied in Milan, Italy, but was influenced early in his career by Wagner and the Wagnerian idea of Gesamtkunstwerk, total theater created by one person. He was known for his temper and passion in life and was fired from a university post over a controversy involving art and personal aesthetic. After his dismissal, he joined the foreign service and spent time in Egypt. He then settled in Marseilles, France, where he lived a bohemian life teaching music lessons and composing. While there, he received a commission from the Italian publishing house, Ricordi, to write an opera. However, his opera was patterned after the German model established by Wagner and was not well received in Italy. After his marriage to a singer, Berthe Rambaud, he moved to Paris, then home to Milan where he collaborated with Puccini on the libretto of Manon Lescaut.

In 1898, the composer Mascagni wrote the blockbuster piece Cavalleria Rusticana, which paved the way for Leoncavallo to write Pagliacci. This new style of opera was direct, passionate, violent, and reflected real life. The style is called verismo. Leoncavallo's new opera was inspired by an 1899 court case. The case involved a troupe of traveling actors in the town of Montalto, in which a husband's jealousy ended in violence.

Pagliacci opened in 1892 and gained popularity throughout Europe and America. Within two years it had been translated into all major European languages, including Swedish, Serbo-Croatian, and Hebrew. Leoncavallo was a prolific writer, with 21 other operas and operettas to his credit; however, none of his other works ever matched the popularity of Pagliacci.