Classical and Jazz: Preview - Pagliacci and The Impresario at Garden Opera
Published: 18 August, 2011
by SEBASTIAN TAYLOR
AN unusual pairing of Leoncavello’s Pagliacci with Mozart’s The Impresario is being put on by Garden Opera at its annual performance on Nannie’s Lawn in Regent’s Park on bank holiday Monday.
Usually, Pagliacci is twinned with the composer’s Cavalleria Rusticana in the popular “Cav & Pag” pairing.
Garden Opera’s different approach involves a merger of the Mozart/ Leoncavello pieces so that The Impresario serves as a sort of prequel to Pagliacci and, taken together, the two pieces have been given the title of The Clowns.
Peter Bridges, artistic director of Garden Opera, says The Impresario has been turned into the first act in the story about the fates and loves of Leoncavello’s famous clowns.
“After the hilarity of Mozart at his most playful, we’ll enter the inner world of the players in I Pagliacci,” he says. “The veneer of performance is stripped away from our group of travelling clowns and the spotlight turns on their own lives.
“Leoncavello’s masterpiece is one of the most popular standards of the operatic repertoire and a splendid example of the ‘verisimo’ operatic style that is well suited to Garden Opera’s intimate approach.”
• Monday, August 29, Pagliacci and The Impresario performed by Garden Opera, Nannie’s Lawn in Queen Mary’s Garden, Regent’s Park, 0844 826 4242. Gardens open 4.15pm, curtain up 5pm, £25.