Ridi PAGLIACCIO

Gigli, Alida Valli, Paul Hörbiger...Luigi RICCI, conductor.The best plot of any Gigli movie.Paul Hörbiger movingly portrays the real-life Canio on whom the opera was based. 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. The film includes nearly the entire role.In Ridi Pagliaccio Gigli's voice is more mature--and more appropriate for the part--than in his 1934 recording. On the recording he is colder and less detailed interpretively. It was made before he had stage experience with the role, whereas the film dates from 1942, when he was appearing as Canio at the Rome Opera. In the 1934 recording he gives priority to sonority. In Ridi Pagliaccio he gives priority to emotion.