Pagliacci

In This Program

• From the General Director
• From the President
• Show Information
  • Production Sponsors
  • Cast
  • The Story
• Who’s Who
  • Artists Bios
  • Orchestra
  • Chorus
  • Youth Chorus
  • Board of Directors
• Sasquatch Goes to the Opera
• Get to Know Monica & Diego
• When Puccini’s Rival Came to Seattle
• Introducing Our Artistic Ambassador
• Upcoming Events
• Print Edition
• More about Seattle Opera

From the General Director

We’re overjoyed that you’re here to experience the passion and drama of Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci—a perennial crowd-pleaser since it premiered in 1892. I invite you to enjoy the memorable melodies and, of course, intensity that one of our favorite conductors, Carlo Montanaro, as well as stage director Dan Wallace Miller have infused into this verismo masterpiece.

You’ll experience something truly special, as this production introduces two amazing artists: Mexican Austrailain tenor Diego Torre as Canio and Cuban American soprano Monica Conesa as Nedda. Diego, a seasoned tenor, has deep knowledge of Canio because he’s performed the role many times. He also has great stamina and knows the dramatic impact the role requires. Monica is a multiple prize-winner who has performed exclusively in Europe until tonight. Monica is more than ready to make her US debut and to sing the part of fiery Nedda for the first time. Get to know Diego and Monica on page 20 of the program. I’m sure you’ll be enthralled by their artistry.

This summer, I saw the world premiere of The Righteous at Santa Fe Opera, a new work that explores the tensions between genuine faith and the fraught world of 1980’s politics. Throughout my career I have championed the creation of new operas, and I am proud that Seattle Opera has produced its share of them, including 2023’s A Thousand Splendid Suns. In a couple months, we will stage the world premiere of Jubilee, created and directed by Tazewell Thompson. This opera follows the early years of the legendary Fisk Jubilee Singers as they tour the country and the world performing African American spirituals like “Balm in Gilead,” “Deep River,” “Steal Away,” and many others to raise funds to save their fledgling Fisk University from closure. Their success help sustain the school. Today, the university is among the best Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the country and is recognized for its famous graduates—scholar W. E. B. Du Bois, poet Nikki Govanni, concert singer Roland Hayes, and congressman and civil rights activist John Lewis, to name a few.

My interest in the development of new operas is deep because there are many stories yet to be told and scores yet to be composed. The art form needs new works like Jubilee because they spark curiosity, bring new narratives to the stage, and expand the repertoire. The entire staff is eager to mount this new creation and I hope you’ll experience it.

The selection of an organization’s leader is an important role that our Board of Directors takes seriously and with deep diligence. So, as the board continues to conduct its search for the company’s next General Director, I’m extending my stay here through the fall until the right leader has been chosen. As always, I will offer my full commitment to Seattle, before I assume the position of General and Artistic Director of La Monnaie/De Munt in Brussels, Belgium, in the new year.

For now, enjoy the magnitude of Leoncavallo’s deftly crafted Pagliacci, and welcome to Seattle Opera’s 61st season.

Sincerely,
Christina Scheppelmann

From the President

Welcome to Pagliacci and the 2024/25 Season!

Summer! Temperatures are high and at Seattle Opera, so are passions.

Pagliacci sizzles. Every element quivers with volatility. A love triangle between Nedda, Canio, and Silvio: their yearning, anger, sadness, fear, desire are all at high volume. Add Tonio: obsessed, scorned, vengeful. Pressure mounts with the strain of literally putting on a show for the cheerful, unsuspecting townspeople. To their escalating shock and ours, passionate reality breaks through the façade again and again. The ending is inevitable and still flabbergasting: “La commedia è finita,” (the play is finished). Indeed!

It all makes for eyebrow-raising drama. Amplified by absolutely thrilling singing.

This is only the beginning of a spectacular season. Pagliacci is followed by the world premiere of the opera Jubilee, the story of the world-renowned Fisk Jubilee Singers. With familiar spirituals like “Wade in the Water,” “Ain’t That Good News,” “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” and more, this is a perfect production to introduce a friend to Seattle Opera.

The New Year brings another musical delight new to Seattle. Les Troyens in Concert is an epic tale of the Trojan War, sung by last year’s Delilah, the Tacoma-born, internationally acclaimed J’Nai Bridges, and conducted by favorite Ludovic Morlot. The Magic Flute follows in an intriguing new-to-Seattle production inspired by silent movies. Featuring onstage performers and animated visual effects, Flute is a multimedia extravaganza that will entrance the whole family. It’s another great show for opera newbies! The mainstage season concludes as it began, with the passion of Tosca and her tangle of love, hunger, and magnificent singing. And with every production, dazzling playing from the Emmy Award-winning Seattle Symphony Orchestra.

I haven’t even gotten to April’s recital featuring tenor Freddie Ballentine and pianist Kunal Lahiry. Last season, Freddie gave a riveting performance as Loge in Das Rheingold. We’re also staging another first: the West Coast premiere of Lucidity, an intimate reflection on memory, music, and love. And don’t miss our rollicking holiday show A Very Drunken Christmas Carol. Complementing this wonderful array of performances are recitals, events, classes, lectures, seminars, and more offered all season long.

What a season! Could it all be more captivating? Could it be more exciting?

I invite you to join the board and staff to get a behind-the-scenes peek at how we make that magic happen by coming to our annual day-long Open House on Saturday, September 21, at the Opera Center (see page 30). Join fellow opera lovers and those who are opera-curious for performances, tours, discussions, kid activities, and a lot of fun!

Finally, as we begin this new season, I want to extend my congratulations on this spectacular line-up to General Director Christina Scheppelmann and her brilliant staff. I also want to thank her for extending her time at Seattle Opera through the autumn to ensure a smooth transition to new leadership. Stay tuned for more on that very soon!

But now, Pagliacci. It’s getting hot in here!

Lesley Chapin Wyckoff, President
Seattle Opera Board of Directors

Principal Singer Season Sponsor

Joan Watjen

In Memory of Craig M. Watjen

Artist Sponsors

Mr. Jay & Dr. Susanne Wakefield

Monica Conesa

Supported by

We are deeply grateful to you, Seattle Opera’s 3,600+ Annual Fund Donors. Your passion for opera and contributions at every dollar amount inspire great performances in McCaw Hall and support engaging activities at the Opera Center and throughout Washington State all season long!

Thank you!

Music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo

Premiere: Teatro Dal Verme,
Milan, Italy, May 1892
Seattle Opera Premiere: November 1966

Performed at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall:
August 3, 4, 10, 11, 14, 16, & 17, 2024

Evening Performances: 7:30 PM
Matinee: 2:00 PM

Act I: 40 minutes
Intermission: 25 minutes
Act II: 30 minutes

In Italian with English captions

CONDUCTOR
Carlo Montanaro

DIRECTOR
Dan Wallace Miller

SCENERY AND PROPS DESIGNER
Steven C. Kemp †

LIGHTING DESIGNER
Abigail Hoke-Brady †

COSTUME DESIGNER
Cynthia Savage

WIGS, HAIR, & MAKEUP DESIGNER
Ashlee Naegle

CHORUS MASTER
Michaella Calzaretta

YOUTH CHORUS MASTER
Julia Meyering †

FIGHT DIRECTOR
Geoffrey Alm

ENGLISH CAPTIONS
Jonathan Dean

Cast

(in order of vocal appearance)

TONIO
Michael Chioldi

CANIO
Diego Torre †

BEPPE
John Marzano

NEDDA
Monica Conesa †
Tiffany Townsend *

VILLAGER 1
Michael Monnikendam

VILLAGER 2
Nathan Barnes

SILVIO
Michael J. Hawk

ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR
Philip A. Kelsey

MUSIC PREPARATION
Philip A. Kelsey
David McDade
Jay Rozendaal

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
Dana Kinney †

STAGE MANAGER
Bethany Windham

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGERS
Quinn Chase
Jamie Kranz

The Story

Time: 1948
Place: A village in Calabria, Italy

Act I

Townsfolk greet the arrival of a group of traveling performers: the leader Canio, his wife Nedda, and two other clowns, Tonio and Beppe. Canio invites everyone to a performance that evening, and the villagers invite him to have a drink. One man jokes about Tonio having a chance to seduce Nedda. Canio, suddenly grave, tells him that his wife’s fidelity is not an appropriate matter for joking.

When he is gone, the frightened Nedda worries about Canio’s violent jealousy. Entranced by the birds, she sings of how she envies their freedom. Tonio listens to her song. Consumed by desire, he begs Nedda to love him. She fights him off, and he leaves her in fury, just as her true love, a villager named Silvio, rushes in. Despite Silvio’s passionate pleas, Nedda initially refuses to elope, fearing what Canio might do. Finally, she is convinced to escape from Canio.

Tonio, angry at Nedda’s refusal to give in to him, returns and sees the lovers. He rushes off to fetch Canio. The two men arrive just in time for Canio to hear Nedda promise that she will meet Silvio at midnight. Canio attacks the younger man, but he escapes. Nedda refuses to give Canio her lover’s name. She leaves to prepare for the show. Beppe tells Canio that he must prepare to play Pagliaccio. Consumed by rage and resentment, Canio prepares for the performance.

Intermission

Act II

The villagers gather for the familiar comedy about Pagliaccio and Columbine, in which a man is betrayed by a faithless wife. A tryst between Columbine (played by Nedda) and her lover Harlequin (played by Beppe) is interrupted by Pagliaccio (Canio). The performance proceeds as expected until an unhinged Canio appears onstage. He demands to know the name of Nedda’s lover. She desperately tries to keep the play going but Canio is spiraling out of control. The audience applauds the realism of his acting. Nedda continues to defy Canio, crying that she will never tell him the name. Pushed beyond the breaking point, Canio stabs her. Silvio rushes onstage to try and save Nedda and Canio kills him as well. The horrified audience is informed that the comedy is finished.

GEOFFREY ALM

Fight Director (Seattle, WA)

Seattle Opera Debut: War and Peace (’90)
Previously at Seattle Opera: A Thousand Splendid Suns (’23); Rigoletto (’19); Carmen (’19)
Engagements: Fight Director, Fat Ham (Seattle Rep); Sweat (ACT Theatre); Macbeth (Seattle Shakespeare Company)

MICHAELLA CALZARETTA

Chorus Master (Muscatine, IA)

Seattle Opera Debut: The Elixir of Love (’22)
Michaella Calzaretta made her Seattle Opera debut in 2022 as the company’s new chorus master and head of music staff. Acclaimed for her high standards and superb preparation skills, Calzaretta oversees all musical activities at the company and prepares the chorus for main stage productions. In January, the chorus embarked on their immensely successful first-ever tour to Mt. Vernon and Vashon Island. Recent praise includes “Her chorus was one of the stars... the voices were radiant” (Bachtrack) and “... the singers are both zesty and accurate (they’re also extremely nimble)” (The Seattle Times). Calzaretta is a doctoral candidate in choral conducting at Indiana University.

MICHAEL CHIOLDI

Tonio

Baritone (New York, NY)
Seattle Opera Debut: Baron Scarpia, Tosca (’21)
Previously at Seattle Opera: Donner, Das Rheingold (’23); Giorgio Germont, La traviata (’23); Marcello, La bohème (’21)
Engagements: Iago, Otello (MET Opera Orchestra Tour); Álvaro, Florencia en el Amazonas, Rigoletto, Rigoletto (Metropolitan Opera); Germont, La traviata (Pittsburgh Opera); Falstaff, Falstaff (Palm Beach Opera); The Dutchman, The Flying Dutchman (Utah Opera)

MONICA CONESA

Nedda

Soprano (Venice, FL)
Seattle Opera Debut
Engagements: Countess Almaviva, The Marriage of Figaro (Teatro Regio di Torino); Aida, Aida (Teatro Filarmonico di Verona, Arena di Verona); Gioconda, La Gioconda (Teatro Filarmonico di Verona); Dolores, La Dolores (Oviedo Filarmonia); Norma, Norma (Ravenna Festival)

MICHAEL J. HAWK

Silvio

Baritone (Fredonia, NY)
Seattle Opera Debut: Fiorello, The Barber of Seville (’24)
Seattle Opera Resident Artist 2024/25
Previously at Seattle Opera: Soloist, 60^th Anniversary Concert & Gala (’24)
Engagements: Per Hansa, Giants in the Earth (South Dakota Symphony); Papageno, The Magic Flute (Buffalo Philharmonic); Demetrius, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Santa Fe Opera); Ophémon, The Anonymous Lover, The Speaker, The Magic Flute, Schaunard, La bohème (LA Opera)

ABIGAIL HOKE-BRADY

Lighting Designer (Asheville, NC)

Seattle Opera Debut
Engagements: La fanciulla del West, Street Scene, Pirates of Penzance (Central City Opera); Don Pasquale (Opera Omaha); King James (The Old Globe); Tosca (Pittsburgh Opera)

STEVEN C. KEMP

Scenery and Props Designer (Houston, TX)

Seattle Opera Debut
Engagements: Set Design, American Apollo (Des Moines Metro Opera); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Atlanta Opera); Sesame Street Live! (International Tour); Macbeth (The Atlanta Opera); Stiffelio (Sarasota Opera); Bluebeard’s Castle (Opera San Jose)

JOHN MARZANO

Beppe

Tenor (Tacoma, WA)
Seattle Opera Debut: Giuseppe, La traviata (’17)
Previously at Seattle Opera: Divo to Diva: Anita Spritzer in Recital (’24); Oronte, Alcina (’23); Gastone, La traviata (’23)
Engagements: Cassio, Otello (Vashon Opera); Tenor, Pride Pops (Seattle Symphony); National Semifinalist, National Council Auditions (Metropolitan Opera); Andronico, Bajazet (Portland Opera); Alfredo, La traviata (Vashon Opera); Camille de Rosillon, The Merry Widow (Tacoma Opera)

JULIA MEYERING

Youth Chorus Master (Kent, WA)

Seattle Opera Debut
Julia Meyering made her Seattle Opera singing debut in 2018 as a chorus member in Porgy and Bess (’18). She is thrilled to be joining Seattle Opera as Youth Chorus Master. Currently, she serves as choral director at Tillicum Middle School in Bellevue, WA, where her choirs have won numerous regional, national, and international choir competitions.

DAN WALLACE MILLER

Director (Seattle, WA)

Seattle Opera Debut: The Combat (’17)
Previously at Seattle Opera: Welcome Back Concert: Die Walküre (’21); Tosca (’21); Il trovatore (’19)
Engagements: Director, Rigoletto (Opera San Jose), Scenes Program (Santa Fe Opera); Roméo et Juliette (Central City Opera); Susannah (Wolf Trap); Tosca (Opera Naples); Carmen (Kentucky Opera)

CARLO MONTANARO

Conductor (Cecina, Italy)

Seattle Opera Debut: Don Quichotte (’11)
Previously at Seattle Opera: La traviata (’23); Il trovatore (’19); Rigoletto (’19)
Engagements: Conductor, Lucia di Lammermoor, Aida (Deutsche Oper Berlin); Tosca (Oper Frankfurt); Madama Butterfly (Opera Australia); Fedora (Oper Frankfurt); Norma (Palm Beach Opera)

ASHLEE NAEGLE

Wigs, Hair, & Makeup Designer (Las Vegas, NV)

Seattle Opera Debut: Julius Ceasar (’07)
Ashlee Naegle made a name for herself early on in her career by mastering the dying art of wig building. She created and designed for several companies around town until the Seattle Opera created an in-house Hair and Makeup Designer position for her in 2017. During her time as the in-house Hair and Makeup Designer, she has built a sizable wig collection, built a department, and set high standards for wigs, hair, and makeup. With each production, her designs are custom built for the performers and their characters to create a believable façade for the audience as well as complement the costumes and production as a whole.

CYNTHIA SAVAGE

Costume Designer (Seattle, WA)

Seattle Opera Debut: The Ballad of Baby Doe (’92)
Previously at Seattle Opera: Così fan tutte (’18); Ariadne auf Naxos (’15); Porgy and Bess (’11)
Engagements: Mary Poppins, Singin’ in the Rain, My Fair Lady, Newsies (Village Theatre)

DIEGO TORRE

Canio

Tenor (Sydney, Australia)
Seattle Opera Debut
Engagements: Cavaradossi, Tosca, Radames, Aida, Foresto, Attila, Eléazar, La Juive (Opera Australia); Canio, Pagliacci (Lyric Opera of Kansas City); Pinkerton, Madama Butterfly (Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour)

Orchestra

Violin I
Noah Geller, Concertmaster
Helen Kim, Assistant Concertmaster
Eduardo Rios
Emerson Millar
Jennifer Bai
Timothy Garland
Mikhail Shmidt
Jeannie Wells Yablonsky
Caitlin Kelley
Dawn Posey

Violin II
Kathleen Boyer, Principal
Evan Anderson, Asst. Principal
Natasha Bazhanov
Brittany Breeden
Stephen Bryant
Xiao-po Fei
Artur Girsky
Blayne Barnes

Viola
Mara Gearman, Principal
Timothy Hale, Asst. Principal
Olivia Chew
Wesley Dyring
Daniel Stone
Allison Farkas
Kayleigh Miller
Camille Ripple

Cello
Meeka Quan DiLorenzo, Principal
Nathan Chan, Asst. Principal
Eric Han
Vivian Gu
Sunnat Ibragimov
Charles Jacot

Double Bass
Jennifer Godfrey, Principal
Jonathan Burnstein, Asst. Principal
Sam Casseday
Travis Gore

Flute
Jeffrey Barker, Principal
Bridget Pei
Zartouhi Dombourian-Eby

Piccolo
Zartouhi Dombourian-Eby

Oboe
Ben Hausmann, Principal
Stefan Farkas

English Horn
Stefan Farkas

Clarinet
Laura DeLuca, Principal
Jennifer Nelson

Bass Clarinet
Eric Jacobs

Bassoon
Seth Krimsky, Principal
Paul Rafanelli
Kipras Mažeika

Horn
Jeffrey Fair, Principal
Jenna Breen
Jonathan Karschney
Matthew Berliner

Trumpet
Alexander White, Principal
Christopher Stingle
Michael Myers

Trombone
Chase Waterbury, Principal
Keith Winkle
Eden Garza

Tuba
John DiCesare, Principal

Timpani
Matthew Decker, Principal

Percussion
Jonathan Wisner, Principal
Rob Tucker
Gunnar Folsom

Harp
Valerie Muzzolini, Principal
Sophie Baird-Daniel

Keyboard
David McDade

Offstage Trumpet
Brian Shaw

Assistant Personnel Manager
Keith Higgins

Rotational members of the string section are listed alphabetically. 

Chorus

Soprano
Jennifer Campbell
Karen Early Evans
Dana Johnson Robbins
Ellaina Lewis
Linda Mattos
Ibidunni Ojikutu
Eleanor Stallcop-Horrox
Shelly Traverse
Amy Van Mechelen
Lyndee White 

Alto
Erica Convery
YeonSoo Lee
Dawn Padula
Elizabeth Peterson
Melissa Plagemann
Bianca Raso
Meg Stoltz
Heidi Vanderford 

Tenor
Nathan Barnes
Andrew Etherington
James Galbraith
Eric Angus Jeffords
German Mendoza
Korland Simmons
Jon Suek
Stephen Wall 

Bass
Mark Davies
Craig Grayson
Glenn Guhr
Zachary Martin
Michael Monnikendam
Micah Parker
Jonah Spool
Revere Taylor
Nathaniel Voth

Youth Chorus

Lorenzo Jose Boado
Abby Chao
Autumn Helene Chociej
Avyana Ewing
Fiona Hurley
Zinaida Koroleva
Victoria Le Metzger
Elizabeth Moore
Kaitlyn Naumowicz
Reagan Nino
Sadie Peterson
Anneliese Ulmer-Schultz
Shantha Vallur
Rex Walker
Chloe Weiner
Natalie Wu

Chair
Maryanne Tagney

President
Lesley Chapin Wyckoff

President Elect
Jonathan Rosoff

Executive Vice President
Joshua Rodriguez

Secretary
Toby Bright

Treasurer
Ellen Evans

Chair Emeritus
John F. Nesholm

Immediate Past President
Brian Marks

Sasquatch Goes to the Opera

By Glenn A. Hare

In honor of Seattle Opera’s newest production of Ruggero Leoncavallo’s masterpiece and to celebrate Pagliacci Pizza’s 45th Anniversary, the Seattle-based pizza maker has created a signature pizza box featuring Sasquatch as a clown.

Conceived by Coby Shultz, one half of the dynamic duo behind Ames Bros, the Seattle-based graphic design firm, the artwork puts the legendary creature known throughout the Pacific Northwest in an awkward situation. “It’s been impossible to work on this and not belly laugh—the thought of ‘Squatch’ being forced to perform and stuffed into an uncomfortable clown suit,” explained Shultz. “He has stage fright and is really doing his best up there on the big stage.” 

Pagliacci Pizza’s founder Dorene Centioli-McTigue named the company in honor of the classic Italian opera. “My family is really big on opera,” she said. “We just thought, what more buffoonery than to open a pizza place. Plus, we have a cousin who was an opera singer.”

Buffoonery aside, from the beginning Pagliacci Pizza has been a huge supporter of cultural institutions. “Throughout our history we’ve had partnerships with various arts organizations,” said Michelle Galvin, Pagliacci Pizza’s Chief Financial Officer. “From Seattle Rep and Pacific Northwest Ballet to many smaller arts organizations, we feel strongly about our commitment to arts in our community.” 

“Working with Pagliacci Pizza is such a serendipitous opportunity! There’s no better pairing than pizza and opera,” said Julia Curns-Welch, Seattle Opera’s Associate Director of Development for Institutional Giving.

Sasquatch is featured on Pagliacci’s 17-inch pizza box through the run of our production in McCaw Hall. So, enjoy a slice or two after you experience Leoncavallo’s dynamic story and music.

Monica Conesa, the American Cuban soprano, and Diego Torre, the Mexican Australian tenor are making their Seattle Opera debuts as Nedda and Canio. Discover how they started, their artistic influences, and favorite pastimes.

Monica Conesa

Soprano 

A dream come true: This role is very, very special to me because it’s one of the operas that I fell in love with first. As a teenager, I listened to the last scene over and over again. I pretended to be Nedda. It’s so dramatic, so incredible. Because this is my role debut, I guess that I’ve been preparing for this moment all my life. It’s been cooking in my head since I was 14 or 15 years old.

The family business: My parents are doctors—my mother a gynecologist, my father an orthopedist. My uncle’s a plastic surgeon and my grandfather is an OB/GYN. But my family appreciates the arts. They introduced me to opera at an early age. The entire family is super supportive and will be in Seattle for my performance. Their advice was “Love your job; you’ll never work a day in your life.” 

Coming to America: So far, my career has been crazy. I sang my first role at the Arena di Verona as Aida. I’ve performed entirely in Europe at places like Teatro Campoamor de Ovieda and the Palazzo Mauro De André. Not only is this my role debut, but it is also my US debut. So, I’m so, so, so excited!

What would a therapist say: My voice is my best friend. She’s full of possibilities. She can be the most beautiful gentle cushion, and then she can be a knife. I don’t know if that’s a description of my voice, but sometimes that’s how I feel when I sing. My voice is always excited to try new things and will try to push the limits. I love my voice. Now, this is where a therapist would say, “You’re talking about yourself, you know.”

Inspired by the past: I’ve been told that my voice is like Maria Callas. It started when I was 14 or 15. At the time, I didn’t know any famous opera singers of the past. Then I sang “Caro mio ben” at a competition. One of the judges commented, “Voice like Callas.” That started my interest in Callas. She was incredible, and her attention to detail was just amazing.

Never leave home without it: I travel everywhere with my Bialetti Moka Pot. She’s my baby. It’s a game changer, especially when I’m in places without good coffee. Thank God, I have my coffee pot! I’m excited to check out Seattle’s coffee scene.

Diego Torre

Tenor

Too noisy, too loud: Mexican culture is a singing culture. We sing for everything—happy and sad times. I’m told that after I said my first words, I was singing. It probably wasn’t pleasant because I remember my sister always saying, “Hey, shut up. Too noisy and too loud.” At the recommendation of my elementary school teacher, my parents agreed to get me voice lessons. In high school the teachers would take me out of class to sing to prospective parents visiting the school.

A chance audition: My last year of high school, I went with my friend to the university. He wanted to get music scores from the library. I saw a flyer for auditions and signed up. I said to myself, “Well, let’s see if I really have the voice and talent that everybody’s telling me that I have.” I was accepted and that started my career.

In the moment: For years, Pagliacci was my favorite opera because it was the first opera that I sang. That’s different now. I’m at a point where I enjoy the moment. My favorite opera is the one that I’m performing at the time.

Aiming for perfection: I believe all singers think this way. Perfection never is going to happen, but at least it’s an inspiration that we have. Perfection is the motivation that we have to get better every single time. I always give a hundred percent—no matter if it’s a performance or if it’s a rehearsal.

Gamer on the road: When I’m not singing, I cook, play guitar, and play video games. Call of Duty is my favorite. I travel with a Nintendo Switch. It’s the most portable. I’ll bring it with me. It’s a long flight from Sydney to Seattle.

Pagliacci has been one of the world’s favorite operas since its 1892 premiere. Here at Seattle Opera we’ve given it five times now (1966, 1974, 1983, 2008, and now 2024), sometimes on its own, sometimes as part of a double-bill with operas such as Cavalleria rusticana or Gianni Schicchi. But among the opera “classics” performed repeatedly in Seattle there’s something unique about Pagliacci: this opera’s creator once visited our fair city.

Ruggero Leoncavallo wrote both the words and music of Pagliacci. It’s not his story, exactly. When Pagliacci became a hit, the French writer Catulle Mendès threatened to sue Leoncavallo for plagiarizing Mendès’s play of five years earlier, in which an actor murders his wife. In rebuttal, Leoncavallo pointed out that Mendès had stolen his plot from a Spanish play written twenty years earlier. Besides, Leoncavallo explained, his inspiration came from something he’d witnessed as a child, in 1865, when his father—a district judge in Italy’s deep south—adjudicated a crime of passion: an actor had murdered his wife and her lover. (Scholars have since pointed out Leoncavallo was either misremembering or lying: the real-life case barely resembles Pagliacci.)

Whatever the origin of its story, Pagliacci might not have gotten off the ground without support from another Frenchman, the great baritone Victor Maurel, who created the role of Iago in Verdi’s Otello in 1887. Leoncavallo, then a café pianist scrounging for work in Paris, had helped Maurel learn that role. A few years later, when Leoncavallo had finished Pagliacci, Maurel compelled Milan’s Teatro Dal Verme to take a risk on his unknown composer-friend. Maurel would create the role of Tonio, provided that Leoncavallo wrote him an aria (the Prologue), changed the opera’s name from Il pagliaccio (The Clown) to Pagliacci (Clowns, i.e. including Tonio) and gave Tonio the famous spoken last line, “La commedia è finita.” (Pretty quickly tenors, including Enrico Caruso, took over delivery of that line, to prevent baritones from upstaging them at the climax!)

So, Pagliacci isn’t exactly Leoncavallo’s story. The toxic masculinity that drives the tragedy was everywhere in Leoncavallo’s world—except in the composer’s home and life. His marriage was more about comfort and companionship than name, honor, or procreation. (Leoncavallo helped raise a girl, presumably his wife’s illegitimate daughter, who eventually inherited his estate.) Leoncavallo knew nothing of the adultery, womanizing, and insane jealousy that characterized the life of his rival, Giacomo Puccini.

Composer vs. Composer

But professionally, Leoncavallo’s fate was always to lose out to Puccini. At first, they were friendly collaborators: Leoncavallo helped write the libretto for Puccini’s first success, Manon Lescaut. But within a month of its premiere, both Leoncavallo and Puccini were composing operas on La bohème, and quarreling publicly about who had prior rights to the subject. Puccini’s La bohème hit the stage first, in 1896; Leoncavallo’s followed in 1897. Although Leoncavallo’s version has its fans, Puccini’s La bohème has an indisputable universal appeal and an unshakable status as the ‘perfect’ opera. Both composers were outrageously gifted at writing melody. Thanks to Puccini’s uncanny instinct for musical drama, his melodies always strike listeners squarely on the solar plexus. Leoncavallo’s melodies really only do so in Pagliacci. Of Leoncavallo’s twenty or so operas and operettas, only Pagliacci is irresistible.

Unable to repeat the great success of Pagliacci, Leoncavallo concluded that his enemies—Puccini, but even more Puccini’s publisher, Ricordi—were deliberately sabotaging his career. When money became scarce, Leoncavallo took to writing quick, easy, frivolous operettas (Puccini followed suit with La rondine) and to touring. In the fall of 1906, a tour of America with seven singers and the 75-piece “La Scala Orchestra” brought Leoncavallo to Seattle. 

They traveled 27,000 miles in eight weeks, scurrying up and down the east coast before performances in the Midwest, the Great Plains, the Pacific Northwest, the Rocky Mountains, and Washington, D.C.. Their adventure concluded in Muncie, Indiana. That exhausting schedule must have taken its toll; at least one reviewer complained that Leoncavallo’s “orchestra, said to be that of La Scala, Milan, is of inferior quality, with strings and wind instruments often at variance as to pitch.” This skepticism about the orchestra’s affiliation with La Scala reflects a letter Ricordi published in the New York Sun attacking Leoncavallo for misrepresentation in advertising: “The La Scala orchestra...never existed....When [La Scala] is closed no one who has played there can claim to be a member of [the] La Scala orchestra.” Leoncavallo’s rebuttal: “Every musician who has ever formed part of the La Scala [orchestra] has a right to lay claim to the fact, and the orchestra which I now have is composed exclusively of La Scala players.”

Leoncavallo in the Emerald City

In Seattle, where they played three concerts, November 23, 1906, was “a night of nights for opera-goers.” The Seattle Daily Times called it “one of the most brilliant musical events in the history of the city. ... Never before did singers on that stage [Seattle’s Grand Opera House, 217 Cherry St.] have so magnificent an instrumental accompaniment as that given by Leoncavallo and his men to these songbirds. ... Nothing could have been more completely successful than their rendition of excerpts from ‘I Pagliacci’.” They also performed excerpts from Leoncavallo’s La bohème, Rolando di Berlin, and Zazà, as well as “Viva l’America,” Leoncavallo’s unfortunate arrangement of ‘Yankee Doodle’ and ‘Dixie.’ Puccini had more success garbling American music a couple years later, when La fanciulla del West premiered in New York.

The strange thing about Leoncavallo’s Seattle adventure: later that night, a burglar attempted to break into the theater’s safe—and the building caught fire. The next morning, a doorman who slept at the Grand was awakened by the noise of the automatic sprinkler system. He groped his way through thick smoke to the box office, where he telephoned the fire department. The fire was put out quickly; the damage (mostly from smoke and water) was estimated at $5,000 to $7,500. The burglary was abandoned, probably because the burglar noticed—or perhaps caused—the fire. The only real casualty was the doorman’s pet rat, who died from smoke inhalation. The cause of the fire was never determined. Leoncavallo’s matinee and evening concerts the next day were moved to the nearby Seattle Theatre. After repairs, the Grand Opera House reopened a few weeks later. But it burned down again—this time for good—in 1917. Today there’s a parking garage at 217 Cherry St.

And Leoncavallo, too, is long gone. Artists, like theaters, are all too fragile and mortal. Let us be thankful for our artists and our arts spaces, because nothing lasts forever, not even memory. If Leoncavallo remembered Seattle, among the many American communities he visited, it was probably for the chaos and panic of that fire. But we remember him—indeed, in a way he is here with us again—when we perform Pagliacci properly: in a way that burns down the house.

Introducing Our Artistic Ambassador

Bass Kenneth Kellogg welcomes his new role at Seattle OperaBy Glenn A. Hare

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines an ambassador as an authorized representative or messenger. This summer, Kenneth Kellogg begins his appointment as Seattle Opera’s first Artistic Ambassador, in which role he will serve as a representative—a messenger—in the community, engaging directly with audiences and the public and participating in Seattle Opera events.

With recent performances in our productions of Anthony Davis’s  X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, in which he sang the title role, and Fafner in last season’s Das Rheingold by Richard Wagner, Kenneth has become one of Seattle’s favorite singers. He is also a powerful advocate for the art form and the arts in general.

“We are honored to welcome an artist of Kenneth’s caliber to this role,” says Dennis Robinson, Jr., Seattle Opera’s Director of Programs and Partnerships. “Not only is Kenneth a phenomenal musician, but he is an inspiring spokesperson for arts and culture.”

For Kenneth, sharing his love of music with everyone is central to his conception of an artistic ambassador. “When I think of my role, I think about my elementary school teacher,” he recalls. “I could always see how much she loved music, and that enthusiasm set me on the path to where I am today. I hope I can exude that infectious spirit to people in Seattle and to people throughout the Puget Sound.”

Kenneth made his Seattle Opera debut in 2021 in the company’s filmed  version of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Don Giovanni. A statue of him as the Commendatore used in the production is on display in the Opera Center. In 2022, he appeared as The Father in Tazewell Thompson and Jeanine Tesori’s Blue, a role that Kenneth described as “a game changer” for his life and career.

In addition, Kenneth envisions his new role with an eye towards how the opera industry talks about opera. “We talk about singers, we talk about the stars, we talk about the productions, and we talk about all the little things that go into an opera. But we miss the big picture—what opera means and can be for our lives.”

Kenneth believes that opera can have relevance in everyone’s life. “Opera has the power to be a truly community-based art form—a place where people can see themselves represented in a larger-than-life space, feel comfortable, and feel welcomed. Making opera matter on that level, with every production we mount, will connect us to the humanity of our community.”

More about Kenneth Kellogg

Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Kenneth began his formal training at the Duke Ellington School of the Performing and Visual Arts as a vocal and visual arts student. He is a graduate of the Adler Fellowship Program at San Francisco Opera and the Domingo-Cafritz Emerging Artist Program at Washington National Opera. Kenneth also trained at the Academy of Vocal Arts, Wolf Trap Opera, and holds degrees from the University of Michigan and Ohio University. He is a frequent guest lecturer for organizations about music. He is an advocate for artists’ rights and uses his certification from Cornell University to consult with performing arts organizations on their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives. Kenneth is also a visual artist, working mostly as a portraitist.

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