Editing Pagliacci (section)

===Act 2===
As the crowd arrives, Nedda, costumed as [[Colombina]], collects their money. She whispers a warning to Silvio, and the crowd cheers as the play begins.

Colombina's husband Pagliaccio has gone away until morning, and Taddeo is at the market. Alone, she anxiously awaits her lover [[Arlecchino]], who comes to serenade her ("{{Lang|it|O Colombina|italic=no}}") from beneath her window. Taddeo returns and confesses his love, but she mocks him. She lets Arlecchino in through the window. He boxes Taddeo's ears and kicks him out of the room, and the audience laughs.

Arlecchino and Colombina dine, and he gives her a sleeping [[potion]] to use later, "so that when Pagliaccio returns, she can drug him and elope with Arlecchino." Taddeo then bursts in, warning them that Pagliaccio is suspicious of his wife and is about to return. As Arlecchino escapes through the window, Colombina tells him, "I will always be yours!"

As Pagliaccio enters, he hears Colombina speak this line and, now as Canio, exclaims "{{Lang|it|Nome di Dio! Quelle stesse parole!|italic=no}}" – "Name of God! Those same words!" He tries to continue the play, but loses control and demands to know her lover's name. Nedda, hoping to keep to the performance, calls Canio by his stage name "Pagliaccio" to remind him of the audience's presence. He answers with his [[Aria|arietta]]: "{{Lang|it|No! Pagliaccio non son!|italic=no}}" – "I am not Pagliaccio!" He sings that if his face is pale, it is not from the stage makeup but from the shame she has brought him. The crowd is impressed by his emotional performance and cheers him, without realizing that it is real.

Nedda, trying to continue the play, admits that she has been visited by the innocent "Arlecchino". Canio, furious and forgetting the play, demands the name of her lover. Nedda swears she will never tell him, and it becomes apparent that they are not acting. Side-stage, Beppe asks Tonio to intervene, but Tonio refrains and prevents Beppe from halting the action. Silvio begins to fight his way toward the stage. Canio, grabbing a knife from the table, stabs Nedda. As she dies, she calls: "Help! Silvio!" Silvio attacks Canio, but Canio kills him as well. The horrified audience then hears the celebrated final line:
: "{{Lang|it|La commedia è finita!|italic=no}}!" – "The comedy is finished!"

====Assignment of the final line====
In the original manuscript, Tonio sang the opera's final line, "{{Lang|it|La Commedia è finita!|italic=no}}", paralleling the prologue, also sung by Tonio. The appropriation of this final line by Canio dates back to 1895. John Wright has analysed the [[dramaturgy]] of the opera in the context of assignment of the final line, and concluded that the original assignment of the final line to Tonio is the most consistent and appropriate assignment. Wright says that Tonio shows more deliberate control in his manipulation of the other characters in order to obtain his revenge upon Nedda, after she has rejected him, and is more aware of the demarcation between life and art. By contrast, Canio is unaware of the behind-the-scenes manipulations and surrenders control of his perception of the difference between life and art as the opera proceeds.<ref name="Wright">{{cite journal | jstor=478969 | last=Wright | first=John | title='La Commedia è finita' – An Examination of Leoncavallo's ''Pagliacci'' | journal=Italica | volume=55 | issue=2 | pages=167–178 | date=Summer 1978| doi=10.2307/478969 }}</ref>

In the present day, the assignment of the final line to Canio has continued to be standard. Several exceptions, where Tonio delivers the final line, include:
* The December 1959 production at the [[Royal Opera House]], Covent Garden, directed by [[Franco Zeffirelli]]<ref>Williams, Jeannie, [https://books.google.com/books?id=GlfVLFMwLJsC&pg=PA101 ''Jon Vickers: A Hero's Life'']. Northeastern University Press (Lebanon, New Hampshire, US), {{ISBN|978-1-55553-674-9}} (1999), pp. 100–101.</ref>
* A 1968 RAI-TV production directed by [[Herbert von Karajan]]<ref name="Wright" />
* The [[His Master's Voice (British record label)|His Master's Voice]] recording conducted by [[Riccardo Muti]] (EMI CMS7 63650-2)<ref>''[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]]'' (March 1991). [https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/leoncavallo-i-pagliacci-mascagni-cavalleria-rusticana-4 "Review: Mascagni – ''Cavalleria rusticana''; Leoncavallo – ''Pagliacci''"]</ref>
* The Philips recording conducted by Muti (Philips 0289 434 1312), in conjunction with live performances in Philadelphia in February 1992<ref>''[[Philadelphia Daily News]]'' (4 February 1992). [https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/184916812/ "The Story of ''I Pagliacci''"], p. 28</ref>
* The 1998 English-language recording on Chandos (CHAN 3003){{efn|[https://www.chandos.net/chanimages/Booklets/CH3003.pdf In the liner notes], the synopsis indicates Canio as stating the final line, inconsistent with the presentation of the libretto in the booklet. The English title given to the opera in this recording is 'The Touring Company'.}}
* The 2007 [[Teatro Real]] production directed by [[Giancarlo del Monaco]], in which Tonio's prologue is inserted into the double-bill before the overture to ''Cavalleria rusticana'', the finale of which segues directly into the first act of ''Pagliacci'' (Opus Arte OA0983D)<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=OA0983D | title=Review: Naxos DVD recording of live productions of February-March 2007 | work=Naxos | author=Naxos Records | date=2007 | access-date=2020-01-03}}</ref>
* The 2008 [[Seattle Opera]] production<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Seattle-Opera-s-Pagliacci-is-a-bold-and-vital-1261508.php|title=Seattle Opera's ''Pagliacci'' is a bold and vital slice of life|work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer|author=RM Campbell|date=2008-01-13|access-date=2015-06-30}}</ref>
* The 2010 Opera Grand Rapids production<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/02/review_audience_savors_opera_g.html|title=Audience savors Opera Grand Rapids' ''Pagliacci''|work=Grand Rapids Press|author=Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk|date=2010-02-13|access-date=2015-06-30}}</ref>
* The 2014 [[San Diego Opera]] production<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/jan/25/san-diego-opera-pagliacci/ | title=Despite some pluses, SD Opera ''Pagliacci'' disappoints | work=The San Diego Union-Tribune | author=James Chute | date=2014-01-25 | access-date=2015-06-30}}</ref>
*The 2015 [[Metropolitan Opera]] production<ref>{{cite news | url=https://classicalvoiceamerica.org/2015/04/15/met-opera-review-cavalleria-rusticana-pagliacci-david-mcvicar/ | title=Cav/Pag Miss/Hit in Met's Debut of McVicar Stagings | work=Classical Voice North America | author=David Shengold | date=2015-04-15 | access-date=2021-01-09}}</ref>
*The 2019 [[Maggio Musicale Fiorentino]] production.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Gangi|first1=Luigi|last2=Giacomazzi|first2=Ugo|date=February 12, 2020|title=''Leoncavallo: Pagliacci - Trailer [2019 - Maggio Musicale Fiorentino]''|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRMR6bG6OpA|publisher=[[YouTube]]}}</ref>
*The 2024 Opera Holland Park production