Beniamino Gigli - Ridi Pagliaccio

RIVETING! The best plot of any Gigli movie.

The powerful plot concerns Canio after prison, and the composition and premiere of Pagliacci. Paul Hoerbiger movingly portrays the real-life Canio. In the opera's premiere, Gigli is the Canio. To express the drama, he colors his voice far more than any other Canio on film or record.

In Ridi, pagliaccio Gigli's voice is more mature--and more appropriate for the part--than in his 1934 recording, on EMI. On the recording he is less secure rhythmically and colder and less detailed interpretively. It was made before he had stage experience with the role, whereas the film was produced a month after he sang a run of Canios at the Rome Opera. (A live version, from 1952, is exciting, but the CD transfer, on Eklipse, has pitch problems so severe that his voice is hard to recognize.)

Gigli's mezza voce remained ravishing to the end of his career. In Ridi pagliaccio he purrs "Prendi: l'anel ti dono," from Sonnambula, with surpassing sweetness.

The music in the film breathes beautifully, presumably thanks to the conducting of the legendary Luigi Ricci. This is a rare recorded example of his work. (He is remembered as a coach to Gigli, Olivero and others and was a composer in his own right.)

For all these reasons I watch the film again and again.--Stefan Zucker

Actors: Beniamino Gigli, Luigi Ricci, Alida Valli, Adriana Perris, Leone Paci

Audio Languages: Italian

Duration: 85 minutes

Number of Discs: 1

Subtitle Languages: English

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