Editing Pagliacci (section)

==Composition==
The opening Prologue was written for Maurel "as an afterthought", as Leoncavallo said in a conversation with the critic and singing teacher [[Herman Klein]] during his visit to London for the UK premiere in 1893: he wrote it "as an inducement to a clever, but rather egotistical baritone to sing the part of Tonio, who felt it wasn't important enough for an artist of his distinction. Perhaps he was right. Anyhow I thought the matter over and hit upon the idea that a prologue, sung before the curtain by one of the humblest characters, would prove something of a novelty and by no means out of place. Being, as you know, my own librettist, I quickly wrote the words and sketched the music. My baritone was delighted, both with the notion and the result, and I am bound to add that it proved one of the most striking features of the opera when I brought it out at the Dal Verme, Milan, just a year ago."{{sfn|Klein|1924|pp=110–111}}

Towards the end of the prologue, singers often interpolate a high A♭ and a high G, although these do not appear in the original full score.{{sfn|Leoncavallo|1892|loc=p. 23, 1st bar; p. 24, 2nd bar}}  In an Australian newspaper article in December 1893, the baritone Guigliemo Caruson, who had already sung the part in Genoa earlier that year<ref name="lavoceantica">Born in Naples in 1863. For his singing career, see {{cite web |title=Caruson, Gugliemo: Cronologia |url=http://www.lavoceantica.it/Baritono/Caruson&20%Guglielmo.htm |website=La Voce Antica |access-date=20 June 2024 |language=Italian, English}}</ref> said that "whilst rehearsing under Signor Leoncavallo's immediate direction, the composer gave his consent to the interpolation remarking that it was very effective, but that he would not add it to the score as he did not wish to force the note upon voices it did not suit."{{refn|{{cite news |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=2 December 1893 |page=4 |title=Musical and Dramatic Notes |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13915984#pstart1371916|access-date=20 June 2024}} NB In this article, Caruson claims to have sung at the 'old' [[Metropolitan Opera House (39th Street)|Metropolitan Opera]] under the impresarios [[Abbey, Schoeffel and Grau]] before performing in [[Guatemala]]. This seems to have been in 1889, see<ref name="lavoceantica" /> However, the trio of impresarios didn't return to the 'Met' until 1891, and he probably meant the [[Auditorium Theatre, Chicago]]. }}