On November 16, the great American tenor Richard Tucker performed Canio in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci at the Met. The opera was recorded and intended to be released paired with Cavalleria Rusticana, featuring Franco Corelli in the leading tenor role. The project was never marketed for some unknown (at least to me) legal reason. Tucker’s reading of the famous aria has been on YouTube for several years, but I didn’t come across it until now. The tenor died 22 days after this performance. All who saw and heard Tucker’s final performances of Canio were struck by the dramatic power of his interpretation of a role he came to late in his career.
The video below has bad picture quality, but good sound. It shows the tenor’s searing spinto to great effect. The audience’s reaction reflects the intensity of Tucker’s portrayal of an older man betrayed by his younger wife. It’s a wonderful document of the last days of America’s greatest tenor.
If the video goes dark, as is the fate of all YouTube videos, it can be found here.
