Pagliacci Italian premiere, and it was given in New York on 15 June 1893, with Agostino Montegriffo as Canio. Around 1890, when Pietro Mascagni's "Cavalleria rusticana" premiered, Leoncavallo was a little-known composer. After seeing Mascagni's success, he decided to write an opera in response: one act composed in the verismo style. Leoncavallo wrote that he based the story of "Pagliacci" on an incident from his childhood: a murder in 1865, the victim of which was a Leoncavallo family servant, Gaetano Scavello. The murderer was Gaetano D'Alessandro, with his brother Luigi an accomplice to the crime. The incident resulted from a series
John Keyes (tenor) "Otello", Samson in "Samson et Dalila", Tristan in "Tristan und Isolde", Turridu in "Cavalleria Rusticana", Walther in "Tannhäuser", and the title roles in "Don Carlos", "Lohengrin", Verdi's "Otello", "Parsifal", and "Siegfried". He is also active as a concert soloist, and is particularly known for his performances of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9". John Keyes (tenor) John Keyes is an American operatic tenor who specializes in the dramatic repertoire. After studies in Chicago, he apprenticed and performed at both the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Houston Grand Opera during the late 1980s. In 1990 he won an international singing