Music by: Ruggero Leoncavallo (1848–1919) Rendered into Arabic by: Samir Shikhani

An opera in two acts by Leoncavallo First produced in Milan in 1892

The Characters: - Canio - Nedda, his wife - Tonio - Beppe - Silvio, a villager - Peasants and villagers (The Strolling Players)

Time: about the year 1870 Place: Montalbo, in Italy

Act One

The scene: an open place near the village.

There is a grand vocal-musical prologue containing several of the songs that are heard in the course of this opera. In the midst of this prologue, all of a sudden, the curtain parts on a man in a clown's costume standing at the front of the stage; he bows before the audience, saying: "Ladies and gentlemen, forgive me if I have appeared alone... I am the Prologue!" Then he launches into song, trying to make the audience understand that if it is the custom for the prologue to assure the spectators that the play they are watching is woven of fancy, and that the per-sons playing its parts are only actors, in this case he wishes to inform the audience that the actors, too, are human beings moved by deep and genuine emotions... The clown goes on: "Our hearts are no different from yours; they beat with love, with joy, and with sorrow. Let us begin now... and let the curtain rise!"

The curtain rises, and we see the strolling players entering the stage... A traveling stage has been set up to the right of the main stage. The sound of a hoarse, discordant trumpet is heard, followed by the beating of a drum. A donkey appears, drawing a brightly colored cart in which sits Nedda, the leading actress of the troupe, while the hero, Canio, beats the great drum, announcing to the crowd that tonight's performance will begin at seven in the evening.

That day happens to be the Feast of the Ascension, and the villagers are decked out in their finest attire, in joyous commotion. But there is a sign that things are not well within the troupe of strolling players.

The clown Tonio tries to help Nedda dismount from the cart, and Canio promptly deals him a blow on the ear. Canio is, in fact, Nedda's husband. One of the members of the troupe suggests that they go to one of the taverns, but Tonio declines, saying that he must look after the donkey. And when one of the villagers hints that Tonio may want to stay behind his companions in order to make love to Nedda, Canio gives him a black look, saying threateningly that though such a thing may happen on the stage, if it were to happen in real life the end of the story would differ greatly from its stage ending.

The church bells ring out, calling the worshippers to the festal Mass. The villagers sing the chorus of the bells as they saunter toward the church. The voices fade little by little, and Nedda remains alone, thinking of the fires of jealousy she has seen in the eyes of her husband Canio. But soon the beauty of that summer night and the twittering of the birds drive these black thoughts from her mind, and she lifts her eyes to the sky, singing a song that begins: "O happy birds, flying free."

And there, outside the traveling stage on which the troupe of strolling players is to give its play that night, the hunchbacked clown Tonio comes forward, trying to pour out his love to Nedda. She mocks him; but when he persists in his impudence, she sets his back afire with the whip, and he goes off muttering that he will take his revenge... And the opportunity for revenge comes sooner than expected.

There enters the place, by a secret passage, a handsome young man named Silvio, whom Nedda had met during the troupe's visits in the past. Love has bound their two hearts... After a long dialogue overflowing with burning emotion, Nedda agrees to flee with him that very night. Tonio spies on the two lovers for a few minutes, then hurries to the tavern to return in the