1989, London ROH, Pagliacci
Pagliacci
(in a double bill with Cavalleria Rusticana)
Composer: Ruggiero Leoncavallo
Librettist: Ruggiero Leoncavallo
Conductor: Robin Stapleton
Direction and designs: Franco Zeffirelli
Staging: Richard Gregson
Venue and Dates: Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London
July 4, 7, 12, 15, 18, 21, 26 1989
Royal Opera at Kenwood Lakeside, London – concert performance – 23 July 1989
Performers:
Nedda: Diana Soviero
Canio: Vladimir Atlantov
Beppe: Barry Banks
Tonio: Piero Cappuccilli
Silvio: Simon Keenlyside / Anthony Michaels-Moore
Notes: Simon’s debut at the Royal Opera House, London. If you have any information about this, please let us know on webmaster@simonkeenlyside.info
Sound bite
Alan Blyth, Opera magazine, September 1989
Pagliacci – Royal Opera at Kenwood Lakeside 23 July
“….One noticed the veteran (ie Piero Cappuccilli) listening intently and, I thought, approvingly, to Simon Keenlyside as Silvio. The young British baritone, already noted as a recitalist, took over the part for the later performances in the run at Covent Garden, and he showed here that his promise is beginning to bear fruit: he sang with firm line and reasonable ardour, obviously a talent to cherish……”
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
We have just found a review of Pagliacci in 1989 – see above – which confirms that Simon did sing Silvio then – apparently sharing the role with Anthony Michaels-Moore. The reviewer states that Simon sang some of the later performances at the Royal Opera House, but we do not know exactly which dates. The review is of a concert performance with the same cast that took place at Kenwood Lakeside, Hampstead, London, towards the end of the run, on 23 July 1989.
Strange, the bio on the ROH website mentions 1990 as his debut, but indeed more than just this website mention this 1989 Silvio. Just cheked the ROH archives online, and they only mention Michaels-Moore..