This Pagliacci is one of those performances that may not be musically neat, but captures in spades the hair-under-the-arms intensity that a good Pagliacci must have in order to work. Del Monaco may have been past his best years, but his tortured Canio is still a force to be reckoned with. Yes, he grandstands on the high notes - so what? The audience (one man in particular) shouts bravos at him whenever possible. His shouts of "Nedda! Nedda!" in the final moments are positively disturbing. MacNeil also plays to the audience with his thrilling top notes in the Prologue. His Tonio is not subtle, but it is very effective. Antonietta Cannarile is an excellent Nedda with exciting high notes. She is one of those lusty, gutsy Italian sopranos who used to be so abundant, but who are in short supply now. The audience loves her too. Otello Borgonovo as Silvio has a basically good voice, but is uneven in execution. He garners some whistles from the audience.The chorus went on strike in Act Two or else their big scene at the beginning of the act was not recorded. Their responses during the play are muted or non-existent. The sound is not great, but it is listenable and pitched correctly. There are more subtle performances of this classic, but few as involving. Everyone sings as if their lives depended on it and maybe they did!