Ruggero Leoncavallo From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Ruggiero Leoncavallo) Ruggiero Leoncavallo (April 23, 1857- August 9, 1919) was an Italian opera composer. The son of a judge, Leoncavallo was educated at the Conservatorio San Pietro a Majella in his native city, Naples (the date 1858, given for his birth in older histories of music, is incorrect). After some years spent teaching and in ineffective attempts to obtain the production of more than one opera