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
Oreste Kirkop Oreste Kirkop Oreste Kirkop(Chircop) was born in Ħamrun (Malta) on 26 July 1923. He was the sixth child among the ten siblings of Jean Chircop and Fortunata Panzavecchia. He started to realise his singing capabilities while singing in the shelters during wartime. Afterwards he took lessons from Maltese tenor Nicolo Baldachino. Oreste made his operatic debut on 25 February 1945 as Turiddu in "Cavalleria Rusticana" at the Radio City Opera House in Ħamrun (Malta). In 1948, he met Maltese baritone Joseph Satariano who encouraged him to start an opera career in the UK. Between 1949 and 1950 he continued singing