In the early 80's, Italian film director Zefferelli (Romeo And Juliet, Taming Of The Shrew, Hamlet) decided he'd transform opera into film, hoping to garner as much success as he had acquired adapting Shakespeare into film. His first project was Leoncavllo's Pagliacci, a turn of the century opera which dealt (at the time) with "realistic subject matter" in a genre of the arts known as verisimo. The dark tale concerns a group of traveling bohemian entertainers. Canio, the principal clown, is blissfully unaware that his girlfriend and fellow performer Nedda has betrayed him with another man. The result: he is crazed with anger and jealousy and kills Nedda during a live performance. The Prologue is well-sung by a bass who connects with the audience in a direct way and who recounts the tragic tale of Canio. Placido Domingo's Canio is by far the most realistic interpretation. Zefferelli championed Domingo as he was a fan of his art and he contracted him and soprano Teresa Stratas to sing La Traviata the following year. Domingo would also appear in Zefferelli's Cavalleria Rusticana and Otello. The unfaithful Nedda is sung by the brilliant Canadian soprano Teresa Stratas. Stratas' Nedda is exquisitely sung, without any melodramatic mannerisms. She plays the role as realistically as possible. It is she who cheats in this opera, but we seem to understand why she would do such a thing. Silvio, her lover, is another moving performance. The Tonio of Juan Pons is appropriately lusty and nasty. The excessive make-up everyone has, the carnival atmosphere of the traveling circus is dizzying, encompassing the theme of madness and killer passions. During the final moments, when Canio kills Nedda on stage, we are indeed shocked to find out it was not staged but real! It is however, Domingo and Stratas' performances that move us. Cinematically, this Pagliacci is a lesser light than Cavalleria, but it's still breathtaking. I enjoyed such moments as when Nedda is singing to the group of children. This is also a very short film and is a perfect "fist" opera experience for anyone who is taking an interest in Italian opera.
Review of Pagliacci
