Georgian actors to perform famous opera in Baku
By Amina Nazarli
The stage of the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater in Baku will host the world famous “Pagliacci” opera by Ruggero Leoncavallo on June 6.
The Theater has invited some leading performers of Georgia’s Tbilisi State Opera and Ballet, named after Paliashvili, in order to update the performing staff.
Such representatives of the Georgian opera and ballet as Teymuraz Gugushvili, the Georgian People's Artist, laureate of international competitions and David Kincurashvili, the artistic director, chief conductor will perform on Baku's stage.
Gugushvili staged in the USA, England, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Israel, and Turkey. He performed at opera houses in Moscow (Bolshoi Theatre), St. Petersburg (Mariinsky Theater), Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Kiev, and Baku.
Young and talented vocalist, Azerbaijan's honored artist will perform Nedda from the opera. The opera will also include Honored Artist Jahangir Gurbanov (Silvio), Anton Fershdat (Tonio) and Atesh Garayev (Arlecchino).
The play will open at 19:00. The address of the venue is Khagani street, 7 and tickets will be sold at 16 and 20 manats.
Around 1890, when Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana premiered, Leoncavallo was a little-known composer. After seeing Mascagni's success, he decided to write an opera in response: one act composed in the verismo style. Leoncavallo claimed that he based the story of Pagliacci on an incident from his childhood: a murder in 1865, the victim of which was one of Leoncavallo family' servant, Gaetano Scavello.
The murderer was Gaetano D'Alessandro, with his brother Luigi an accomplice to the crime. The incident resulted from a series of perceived romantic entanglements involving Scavello, Luigi D'Alessandro, and a village girl with whom both men were infatuated. Leoncavallo's father, a judge, was the presiding magistrate over the criminal investigation.
Leoncavallo originally titled his story Il pagliaccio (The Clown). The baritone Victor Maurel, who was cast as the first Tonio, requested that Leoncavallo change the title from the singular Il pagliaccio to the plural Pagliacci, to broaden the dramatic interest from Canio alone to include Tonio (his own role).
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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on
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