Love of a Clown, or Pagliacci, is a 1948Italian film based on Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci, directed by Mario Costa. The film stars Tito Gobbi and Gina Lollobrigida. It recounts the tragedy of Canio, the lead clown (or pagliaccio in Italian) in a commedia dell'arte troupe, his wife Nedda, and her lover, Silvio. When Nedda spurns the advances of Tonio, another player in the troupe, he tells Canio about Nedda's betrayal. In a jealous rage Canio murders both Nedda and Silvio. The only actor in the cast who also sang his role was the celebrated Italian baritone, Tito Gobbi, but the film is largely very faithful to its source material, presenting the opera nearly complete.
The film premiered on 16 April 1950 in the USA. It is notable for having been filmed largely in outdoor settings, much like a big-budgeted film version of a Broadway musical.
Pagliacci is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who murders his wife Nedda and her lover Silvio on stage during a performance. Pagliacci premiered at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan on 21 May 1892, conducted by Arturo Toscanini, with Adelina Stehle as Nedda, Fiorello Giraud as Canio, Victor Maurel as Tonio, and Mario Ancona as Silvio. Soon after its Italian premiere, the opera played in London and in New York. Pagliacci is the composer's only opera that is still widely performed.
Tito Gobbi was an Italian operatic baritone with an international reputation.
Oreste Kirkop (Chircop) was a Maltese singer.
Giuseppe Valdengo was an Italian operatic baritone. Opera News said that, "Although his timbre lacked the innate beauty of some of his baritone contemporaries, Valdengo's performances were invariably satisfying — bold and assured in attack but scrupulously musical."
Afro Poli was an Italian operatic baritone, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.
Eugenia Ratti was an Italian soprano, particularly associated with the Italian repertory. A lyric coloratura soprano of considerable charm, she excelled in soubrette roles in works by Cimarosa and Mozart such as Susanna, Zerlina, Despina, and in light Donizetti such as Adina, Norina, as well as Verdi's Oscar and Nannetta.
Donald Sydney Smith OBE was an Australian operatic tenor. His voice had a bright Italianate quality which could match, in size carrying power and tonal allure, the voices of most sopranos and mezzos. He attracted a fiercely loyal public following, and many Australians who had no prior experience of opera became opera lovers through Smith's work. His performances were regularly sold out with The Australian Opera at the Sydney Opera House.
Francesco Anile is an Italian tenor. He regularly sings in Italy and abroad, performing in theatres such as the Teatro Massimo in Palermo and San Carlo in Naples. Turandot, Norma and Otello are some of the works of his repertory which he plays enthusiastically. In March 2009, he was Manrico in Verdi's Il trovatore, and he has performed Canio in Pagliacci, directed by Franco Zeffirelli.
Wife for a Night is a 1952 Italian historical comedy film directed by Mario Camerini and starring Gina Lollobrigida, Gino Cervi and Nadia Gray. It was based on the play The Dazzling Hour by Anna Bonacci which was later updated for the Billy Wilder film Kiss Me, Stupid. The film's sets were designed by the art director Flavio Mogherini. Location shooting took place around Parma.
Pagliacci is a 1982 Italian film of Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci, directed by Franco Zeffirelli. All the actors, including Plácido Domingo and Teresa Stratas in the starring roles, were opera singers who sang their own parts. Pagliacci was shot at Milan's La Scala opera house and on a movie sound stage. Georges Prêtre conducted the Orchestra and Choir of La Scala.
Nicola Zerola was an Italian operatic tenor who had an active international career from 1898-1928. He began his career in his native country, but was soon heard in concerts and operas internationally during the first years of the 20th century. In 1908 he relocated to the United States where he was active with important opera companies in New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia up into the late 1920s. Between 1909 and 1911 he recorded 13 issued sides for the Victor Talking Machine Company at their Camden, New Jersey studios. He also made 11 solo recordings and one duet for the Gramophone and Typewriter Company in England in 1910-1911.
Pagliacci is a 1936 British musical film directed by Karl Grune and starring Richard Tauber, Steffi Duna and Diana Napier. It is an adaptation in English of the 1892 opera Pagliacci by Ruggiero Leoncavallo.
Alfred Orda was a Polish operatic baritone and soloist. Most of his life and performance career was spent in the United Kingdom. He was a regular performer at the BBC Proms, especially from 1943 to 1964, Orda was born in Łódź, Poland. "There was always singing in his life, for his mother had a good contralto voice."
Mario Basiola was an Italian operatic baritone.
Tonio di Paolo is an American opera singer. He began his career in the 1970s as a baritone but since the late 1970s has portrayed roles as a leading tenor. His performance credits include appearances with the Metropolitan Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the San Francisco Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, the Canadian Opera Company, and the Hamburg State Opera among other companies. He has created roles in the world premieres of operas by composers Samuel Adler, David Carlson, John Harbison, and Augusta Read Thomas. He retired from the stage in 2010.
Mad About Opera is a 1948 Italian musical comedy film directed by Mario Costa and starring Gino Bechi, Gina Lollobrigida, and Carlo Campanini.
I Pagliacci is a 1923 British silent historical drama film directed by G. B. Samuelson and S. W. Smith and starring Adelqui Migliar, Lillian Hall-Davis and Campbell Gullan. The film was shot at Isleworth Studios. It is based on the 1892 opera Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo.
Pagliacci is a 1931 American musical film directed by Joe W. Coffman and starring Fernando Bertini, Alba Novella and Mario Valle. It is a filmed version of a stage performance of the opera Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo.
Laugh, Pagliacci is a 1943 Italian-German historical drama film directed by Giuseppe Fatigati and starring Alida Valli, Beniamino Gigli and Carlo Romano. A separate German-language version Laugh Bajazzo was also produced. It was shot in Berlin at a time when Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy were allies in the Second World War. The film's sets were designed by the art director Hans Kuhnert.
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