from Act I of the Italian opera
I Pagliacci by Ruggiero Leoncavallo
Libretto: Ruggiero Leoncavallo
Role: Canio, the head of a performing troupe, married to Nedda (Pagliaccio in the play)
Voice Part: tenor Fach: spinto tenor
Setting: The entrance to a village, Calabria, Italy, 1860s
Synopsis: After a villager makes a joke about flirting with Canio's wife Nedda, Canio warns the rest of the villagers, saying that, while everything on the stage is an illusion, life is reality and with a real transgression comes real punishment.