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Ruggiero Leoncavallo

Ruggiero Leoncavallo (March 8, 1857 - August 9, 1919) was an Italian opera composer.

He was born at Naples and educated for music at the conservatoire. After some years spent in teaching and in ineffectual attempts to obtain the production of more than one opera, his I Pagliacci was performed at Milan in 1892 with immediate success; today it is the only work by Leoncavallo in the standard operatic repertory. The next year his Medici was also produced at Milan, but neither it nor Chatterton (1896)--both early works--obtained any favour; and it was not till La Bohème was performed in 1897 at Venice that his talent obtained public confirmation. Subsequent operas by Leoncavallo were Zazà (1900), and Der Roland (1904). In all these operas he was his own librettist.

Leoncavallo died in Montecatini.

Operas

Operettas