Ruggero Leoncavallo’s ‘Pagliacci’ from North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie, Illinois on WHRO-FM

This week, WHRO-FM blurs the line between theater and real life with an intense and brutally emotional opera: Ruggero Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci.”
The famous opening prologue sets the tone for the entire work, introducing characters whose jealousy, humiliation and desperation become increasingly impossible to contain. Passionate and possessive, Canio leads a small traveling commedia dell'arte troupe through southern Italy. He is married to Nedda, who is secretly in love with Silvio. Tonio, who desires Nedda and has been rejected by her, discovers the affair and alerts Canio. During the troupe's evening performance, Canio is consumed by jealousy and forces Nedda to reveal the name of her lover. When Silvio intervenes, Canio attacks and kills Nedda, then Silvio. By this point, the boundary between comedy and reality has completely disappeared. The emotional powerhouse of the opera, Canio is brought to life by tenor Jonathan Burton. With a strong, ringing tenor, Burton conveys Canio’s transformation from playful actor to devastated and murderous husband. His famous aria, “Vesti la giubba,” captures the character’s heartbreaking attempt to hide his suffering behind the mask of a clown. Soprano Michelle Allie Drever beautifully portrays Nedda’s vulnerability and fierce desire for freedom, bringing a youthful, lyrical quality to her character’s longing for a life beyond the troupe. The Opera Festival of Chicago Orchestra & Chorus performs this powerful opera, under the baton of the impressive Emanuele Andrizzi.
This Saturday at 1:00 p.m., tune in to WHRO-FM 90.3, for one of the defining works of verismo opera, a style that explores ordinary people, raw human emotions, and dramatic situations drawn from everyday life. Don’t forget that you can also listen online via our Media Player.