In Leoncavallo's 1892 Pagliacci, however, the composer-lyricist had no such qualms, nor did he shy away from giving a rough timeframe in which all the action of the piece would occur. The scene-setting description for Scene 1 of Act I states quite specifically that it is three o'clock in the afternoon -- tre ore -- when the commedia dell'arte company first arrives in town. The villagers expect a performance to occur immediately, but Canio announces the time of the play to be a surprisingly late a ventitrè ore -- twenty-three hours, or eleven P.M., along with giving a brief synopsis of the plot to inspire the audience to attend even at that hour. Time hustles along very quickly following this announcement, as the bells ring the vespers (late afternoon or evening bells) to summon the townsfolk to church as they sing about the approach of twilight. One would think that the opera were taking place during the winter, when dusk indeed falls in late afternoon, but Leoncavallo set the date as the Feast of the Assumption, in mid-August. Put the rapidity of the clock down to artistic license, then.
Nedda and Silvio plan to elope at midnight; he instructs Nedda to meet him by a particular wall by which they confirm the time of their assignation...overheard by the jealous Tonio, whose advances have just been rejected by Nedda. Irony of ironies, the very play that Nedda is, as "Columbine," to perform in that evening, opens with statement that her character's husband, "Pagliaccio," is not expected back until very late. Art continues to imitate life, as the servant character of "Taddeo" -- played by Tonio -- woos her, singing that "l'ora è suonata" - the hour is approaching - when he will express his love to her. But it is not his love that she wants, but that of "Harlequin," who takes advantage of Pagliacco's absence to visit and to give Columbine a sleeping potion with which to drug her husband that night, so that they can flee together. "A stanotte" - till midnight - she calls, as he exits through the window just as Pagliaccio -- portrayed by Canio -- arrives. This announcement of the time triggers Canio's anger, as he has learned about her appointment with Silvio. It is from this moment on that he ceases to distinguish between the comic dialogue between Pagliaccio and Columbine, and his own murderous rage toward his genuine wife.
