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Opera's most popular double bill, fondly known as Cav and Pag, can be a tawdry mess or, as in this performance of Pagliacci, a searing experience. Its power derives from an all-star cast headed by tenor Jon Vickers in the double role of betrayed husband, Canio, and tragic clown, Pagliacci. He’s a singer who blurred the division between reality and stage illusion in every role he assumed, thus taking an opera about that thin line between real life and stage artifice to heightened levels of intensity. Vickers is a force of nature, his big, brawny voice suffused with emotion. Here, his phrasing, textual precision, and timbral colorations expand the scope of the opera, making a moving tragedy out of Leoncavallo’s verismo melodrama. It helps that his colleagues are also in good form: Soprano Raina Kabaivanska is an excellent Nedda, Canio’s cheating wife, whose loyalty to her lover, Silvio, sends Canio into a murderous rage in the stage farce that parodies their real-life situation. She sings with refinement in the Act One love duet and with powerful desperation in Act Two. Baritone Rolando Panerai is a fine Silvio, and the double role of Peppe/Arlecchino is enhanced by the smooth tenor of Sergio Lorenzo. Peter Glossup is a convincing Tonio, the lascivious member of the troupe whose lust leads him to betray Nedda and set the tragedy in motion. Herbert von Karajan conducts the La Scala forces, guiding the mounting tension to perfection. He’s also credited with directing the film, based on Paul Hager’s stage production. Despite copious closeups, lip-synching to the prerecorded vocal performances is smoothly done. Like Pagliacci, this Cavelleria Rusticana was a La Scala production filmed in 1968. But the filming, directed by Ake Falck, disappoints. Another village melodrama of love, infidelity, and murder, it’s well sung, with mezzo Fiorenza Cossoto in the role of Santuzza, the betrayed heroine and a little-known but capable tenor, Gianfranco Cecchele, in the role of Turridu, whose love for Lola, soprano Adriana Martino, leads to the violent response of her husband, Alfio, acted by baritone Giangiacomo Guelfi. Karajan shines in the expansive Prelude and the beautifully shaped Intermezzo but the opera is undercut by a film with too many irrelevant scenic shots and an excess of tight closeups that have the effect of creating emotional distance rather than involvement. But if Cav underachieves, this Pag, dominated by Jon Vickers, is an unforgettable operatic experience. --Dan Davis This DVD is in 4:3 format. Sound options include PCM Stereo and DTS 5.1 Surround. Subtitles include English, French, German, Spanish, and Chinese.
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