Ruggero Leoncavallo

Ruggero Leoncavallo was an Italian composer and was a son of a police magistrate. He was also the greatest Italian librettist of his time after Boito and contributed to Italian opera, in particular, Italian Verismo (Realism) movement. He became internationally popular due to his only one opera namely “I Pagliacci”.

Leoncavallo was a son of a police magistrate and was born on 23th of April in 1857 in Naples. He got his early education from the Naples’s Conservatorio San Pietro (a Majella). He completed his diploma of maestro at the age of eighteen. Later on, Ruggero enrolled at Bologna University, and studied literature. He want to be known as a composer, so he strive for the production of more than one opera and made his ends meet by teaching piano and singing in cafés.

While teaching, he realized that there is enormous scope of Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and thus, he devoted his time for producing his own Verismo hit, Pagliacci. After all, his I Medici was also produced in Milan in 1896. These Ruggero’s early works obtained much popularity and were recorded by the Gramophone Company in 1908. Then he went to Vines, where his talent got a great public attention and admiration. Till today, Leoncavallo’s two tenors are occasionally performed in Italy.

Ruggero’s subsequent operas were Zazà (1900) and Der Roland von Berlin (1904). He also got a brief success with Gli zingari which was premiered at the Hippodrome Theatre in London, in 1912.

Leoncavallo also composed songs like Mattinata, (a best song) which was wrote for the Gramophone Company with Caruso in mind.

After a series of operettas, Ruggero again last time tried to work on Edipo Re, but he died before its completion. Later on Edipo Re’s orchestration was completed by Giovanni Pennacchio. Edipo Re was a short one-act work, in which composer uses exactly the same melody for the final scene Miei poveri fior, per voi non più sole (with the blinded Edipo).Although, Leoncavallo left his last opera, more or less completed, but Pennacchio may have had to do more and may have 'filled in the gaps' using Leoncavallo's earlier music. Ruggero Leoncavallo died in Montecatini, Tuscany, on 9th of August in 1919.