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The dark side of passion is jealousy. Everyone knows the
man’s side of the I Pagliacci story of love gone wrong. But what
about the unfaithful wife, Nedda’s side of the story. Set in Southern Italy,
around 1865, I Pagliacci is the story of a roving troupe of actors.
Jealous Canio is the troupe leader and Nedda is his abused and unfaithful
wife.
One day, following one of Canio’s jealous and threatening
outbursts, Nedda sees some birds flying overhead and remembers happier times
when she was with her mother. She dreams of flying with the birds and going
where they are going with such freedom. We get to experience what she longs
for and how much more tragic a character she becomes, trapped in a marriage
that does not give her much satisfaction.
I recall going to this opera as a young girl. Though I
didn’t understand everything that was going on, it left an impression on me.
I can still see the knife plunging into Nedda at the end of the opera.
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