Art imitates art in ETO’s bracing new Pagliacci

Ronald Samm (Canio)

Paula Sides (Nedda), Ronald Samm (Canio)

Ronald Samm (Canio), Matthew Siveter (Tonio), Harry Grigg (Beppe)

Paula Sides (Nedda)

Ronald Samm (Canio), Paula Sides (Nedda), Harry Grigg (Beppe)

By Dominic Lowe, 12 April 2026

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“a meditation on the public suffering that high profile couples endure”

Reviewed at Hackney Empire, London on 10 April 2026

Leoncavallo, Pagliacci

English Touring Opera

Gerry Cornelius, Conductor

Eleanor Burke, Director

Michael Pavelka, Set Designer

Laura Stansfield, Costume Designer

Zeynep Kepekli, Lighting Designer

Paula Sides, Nedda

Ronald Samm, Canio

Phillip Rhodes, Tonio

Dan Shelvey, Silvio

Harry Grigg, Beppe

English Touring Opera transfers Donizetti to the English coast

Dominic Lowe, 27th September

L'elisir d'amore may not immediately bring Skegness or Romney to mind, but ETO's new production works quite well there... just look out for the seagulls!

***11

Blissful and hard-boiled: I Capuleti e i Montecchi at ETO

David Karlin, 22nd February

Eloise Lally shifts the Romeo and Juliet love story into New York mafia families. Jessica Cale and Samantha Price provide blissful bel canto as the star-crossed lovers.

****1

A tender Shakespeare-inspired curio from English Touring Opera

Susannah Moody, 15th February

ETO kicks off its spring season with What Dreams May Come, a strange and moving staging of songs inspired by William Shakespeare.

***11

Theatrically poverty-stricken: ETO's Blond Eckbert

Mark Valencia, 18th October

Judith Weir's cryptic folk opera lacks the narrative propulsion necessary to enthral an audience, and without resolution there is no catharsis.

**111

ETO's The Snowmaiden melts the heart and gladdens the ears

Dominic Lowe, 28th September

Olivia Fuchs' production of Rimsky-Korsakov's charming fable for ETO begins its tour in Hackney and is worth travelling to see. Catch this thoughtful production in a town near you.

****1

ETO opens spring tour with an off-the-wall Manon Lescaut

Mark Valencia, 24th February

Jude Christian's indulgent reinvention of Puccini's opera does not serve English Touring Opera well as it embarks on its spring tour.

**111

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Dominic Lowe

Dominic Lowe recently completed a degree in Classics, and one of his great interests is the reception of Greece and Rome in opera. A regular opera-goer since his very early teens, he is particularly keen on the hidden operatic gems of the 19th century. He is largely based in the South of England.

Art imitates art in English Touring Opera’s bracing new Pagliacci