“Pagliacci Impresses Audience at Sofitel”, an article of Taing Rinith in Khmer Times, 14th October 2019

On Friday 12th and Saturday 13th October 2019 evenings, hundreds of people from all nationalities laughed and cried and gave big rounds of applause in Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra’s ballroom where an Italian opera performed, under the direction of Masetro Vincenzo Grisostomi Travaglini.

Kicking off the second Sofitel Phokeethra Classical Music Festival, Pagliacci, an Italian opera by Ruggero Leoncavallo, a tale of romantic entanglements, was organised by Cambodia Opera Project.

According to HRH Prince Ravivaddhana Monipong Sisowath, the Artistic Supervisor of the performance, the concert was a “melting pot” with artists from Cambodia, Japan, Italy, Cameroon, France and Germany.

A group of acrobats from Phare Ponleu Phare Ponleu Selpak also featured on stage. “We decided to perform Pagliacci, which is deliberate and putting together fiction and reality,” said the Prince. “We have artists performing on the stage for the ‘villagers’ in their village.”

At the end of both nights, the…