opera notebook
some operas I have seen on videoRuggero Leoncavallo, Pagliacci (1892)
libretto by the composer
Opéra National Montpellier Occitanie, 2026
- Conductor: Yoel Gamzou
- Director: Silvia Paoli
- Set Designer: Emanuele Sinisi
- Nedda: Galina Cheplakova
- Canio: Azer Zada
This production uses the same set as the Cavalleria Rusticana on the 2026 Montpellier double bill. Or rather: the same set with a jungle-gym dropped in the middle and a chain-link fence erected between the action and the audience. Both elements hinder the audience – in the opera house or home on video – when it comes to seeing the singers. But I suppose they symbolize the various emotional cages in which the characters of Pagliacci are trapped.
Agnese Rabatti's outlandish, tattered costumes work better for the troupe of Pagliacci than they did for the villagers of Cavalleria. Musically the production is fine, and Galina Cheplakova captures Nedda's longing admirably.