Pagliacci

Costumes for the new production of the opera Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo were renewed in 1957 by the couple Edmond Delescluze and Suzanne Fabry. The opera had been part of La Monnaie’s regular repertoire since 1895.

Few set models have survived, but those that have show the designers’ working methods. In the collection acquired by the Léon Courtin– Marcelle Bouché Fund, there are just two such models, this one designed for Pagliacci and another designed for La Fille de Madame Angot by Charles Lecocq.

Pagliacci was based on a real drama that took place around 1870 in Calabria. The décor for is set among ruins and, in keeping with the theme, shows a theatre scene with figurines in traditional costumes from the Italian repertoire.

Bibliography:
Jacqueline Guisset, Une vie à l’opéra, La Renaissance du Livre, Crédit Communal, 2000, p.126