LEONCAVALLO

Ruggiero Leoncavallo was born at Naples 8th March, 1858. He studied at the Neapolitan Conservatoire, and afterwards gave singing lessons and went through many hard struggles. His first opera, Medici, being part of a trilogy, Crepusculinis, was not produced until after Pagliacci (produced at the Teatro dal Verme, Milan, 21st May, 1892) had won great success for him. Medici was given in 1893, but proved unsuccessful, and the remaining portions of the trilogy, Savonarola and Cesare Borgia, were not produced. The other operas that followed were: Der Roland (1894); Chatterton (1896); La BohÃ¨me (1897); Zaza (1900); but none of these have met with great success, his lighter work, such as Zaza and Pagliacci, being in his happiest vein. Another opera, Maia, was produced at the Royal Opera House, Berlin, on 17th March, 1911.