Tune into WRTI on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 1 p.m. to hear the Opera Festival of Chicago’s 2025 production of Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci. Leoncavallo composed Pagliacci as a response to Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana, the first opera verismo, a style which focused on the lives of everyday, working-class people. Katherine Buzard of Chicago Classical Review wrote that “the cast was top-notch across the board,” but noted specifically that baritone Franco Pomponi’s Tonio was “full of pathos,” and that tenor Jonathan Burton’s Canio “was a revelation.”
Pagliacci centers around the members of a travelling commedia dell'arte company who have stopped to perform in a small Sicilian village. Canio, the head of the company, advertises the night’s performance: a story of infidelity in which the character played by Canio’s wife, Nedda, is courted by another man. The pair conspire to kill Pagliaccio, played by Canio himself. When a villager suggests that Nedda is really being courted by Tonio, another member of the troupe, Canio is overcome with jealousy, angrily reminding his company that life and theater remain separate. Canio discovers that Nedda is actually having an affair, but she will not reveal the identity of her lover. In his despair, Canio laments the night’s performance — although his heart has been devastated, he must still play the clown.
This production will feature tenor Jonathan Burton as Canio, the sad clown, and soprano Michelle Allie Drever as Nedda, Canio’s wife. Baritone Franco Pomponi is Tonio, tenor Jerek Fernández is Peppe, and baritone Jonathan Wilson is Silvio. Emanuele Andrizzi conducts the Opera Festival of Chicago Orchestra & Chorus.
Cast:
Michelle Allie Drever as Nedda
Jonathan Burton as Canio
Franco Pomponi as Tonio
Jerek Fernández as Peppe
Jonathan Wilson as Silvio
Emanuele Andrizzi conducts the Opera Festival of Chicago Orchestra & Chorus