Leoncavallo, Ruggero, << lay `ohn` kah VAHL loh, rood JEH roh >> (1857-1919), was an Italian opera composer. His first name is sometimes spelled Ruggiero. Leoncavallo is best known for his two-act opera Pagliacci (1892). This opera is a violent tragedy about a group of traveling players. It is an example of a melodramatic form of realism called verismo. Leoncavallo wrote the words and the music, basing the story on a legal case handled by his father, a lawyer. Leoncavallo was inspired to write the opera by the success of Pietro Mascagni’s one-act verismo opera, Cavalleria Rusticana (1890). The two works are usually performed together.
Leoncavallo was born on March 8, 1857, in Naples and studied music there. Before settling on a career in opera, he worked as a traveling cafe pianist. He wrote many operas, but none of his other works matched the success of Pagliacci. He died on Aug. 9, 1919.
