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
Paul Hansen (tenor) Copenhagen where he became a music teacher. He later moved to Helsinki where he died in 1967 at the age of 81. In 1917 Hansen appeared in his film debut, "Cavalleria Rusticana", based on the opera of the same name. His co-star on "Cavalleria Rusticana" was mezzo-soprano Emma Vilmar, who took the role of Lucia. The two became a couple and were later married. His early cinema appearances were all made in Germany and were translations of popular operas. From 1919 Hansen began appearing in cinema dramas, and that year he starred in the silent film "The Woman at the