Next up in Opera Week is perhaps the most celebrated aria in history, and certainly one of my very favorites.
Leoncavallo’s ‘Vesti La Giubba’ wraps up the first act of Pagliacci, a tragic tale of a clown and his unfaithful wife. In this aria, lead character Canio discovers his wife’s infidelity but must go on with the show. Sometimes the English translations of great arias are kind of silly — is she really singing with such passion about a trade agreement? But in this case, the English translation reads as powerful and poignant as the Italian sounds.
So many great arias show up in movies, and this one is no exception. I’m sure it’s been used dozens of times, but for me it will always be cemented in my mind as the song that played when Sean Connery was gunned down in The Untouchables as DeNiro’s Al Capone watched Pagliacci from his opera box.
Recitar! Mentre preso dal delirio,
non so più quel che dico,
e quel che faccio!
Eppur è d’uopo, sforzati!
Bah! Sei tu forse un uom?
Tu se’ Pagliaccio!
Vesti la giubba,
e la faccia infarina.
La gente paga, e rider vuole qua.
E se Arlecchin t’invola Colombina,
ridi, Pagliaccio, e ognun applaudirà!
Tramuta in lazzi lo spasmo ed il pianto
in una smorfia il singhiozzo e ‘l dolor, Ah!
Ridi, Pagliaccio,
sul tuo amore infranto!
Ridi del duol, che t’avvelena il cor!
English:
To act! While out of my mind,
I no longer know what I say,
or what I do!
And yet it’s necessary… make an effort!
Bah! Are you not a man?
You are Pagliaccio!
Put on your costume,
powder your face.
The people pay to be here, and they want to laugh.
And if Harlequin shall steal your Columbine,
laugh, Pagliaccio, so the crowd will cheer!
Turn your distress and tears into jest,
your pain and sobbing into a funny face – Ah!
Laugh, Pagliaccio,
at your broken love!
Laugh at the grief that poisons your heart!
Meet Me In Montauk 
We were discussing last night the use of arias in films such as The Untouchables. I certainly appreciate the use in that context to underscore the drama of a scene. Still, I would never feel the need to hear this outside of the context of a movie scene.
Isn’t an opera scene basically a movie scene? A musical in another language?
This was an amazing scene and the aria was perfect as DeNiro cried at the music while Sean Connery was dying. While this is not my favorite aria, I always get a thrill hearing it sung, esp. by the great Pavarotti.
I had to find – and watch – the scene from The Untouchables, as I agree that the use of this aria in that film was so powerful.