Zazà
| Zazà | |
|---|---|
| Opera by Ruggero Leoncavallo | |
 The composer in 1910 | |
| Librettist | Leoncavallo |
| Language | Italian |
| Premiere |
10 November 1900 Teatro Lirico, Milan |
Zazà Italian pronunciation: [dzadˈdza] is an opera by Ruggero Leoncavallo, with the libretto by the composer. Its première at the Teatro Lirico di Milano on 10 November 1900, starring Rosina Storchio as Zazà, Edoardo Garbin as Milio, Mario Sammarco as Cascart and Clorinda Pini-Corsi as Anaide, and conducted by Arturo Toscanini, began its triumphant run of performances in opera houses around the world.
Over the following twenty years it received over fifty new productions from Palermo to Paris, Buenos Aires to Moscow, Cairo to San Francisco, arriving at The Metropolitan Opera on 16 January 1920 in a production directed by David Belasco and conducted by Roberto Moranzoni, starring Geraldine Farrar, Giulio Crimi and Pasquale Amato, and later Giovanni Martinelli and Giuseppe De Luca. La bohème and Zazà are the operas of Leoncavallo's which most nearly matched the success of Pagliacci.
The story of the opera concerns the French music hall singer, Zazà and her affair and subsequent decision to leave her lover, Milio, when she discovers that he is married. The score is rich with the colorful details of the French music halls where Leoncavallo had spent his early years as a composer.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 10 November 1900 (Conductor: Arturo Toscanini ) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zazà, a concert hall singer | soprano | Rosina Storchio | |
| Milio Dufresne, a wealthy Parisian | tenor | Edoardo Garbin | |
| Cascart, a concert hall singer | baritone | Mario Sammarco | |
| Anaide, Zazà's mother | mezzo-soprano | Clorinda Pini-Corsi | |
| Bussy, a journalist | baritone | Lucio Aristi | |
| Natalia, Zazà's maid | mezzo-soprano | Adalgisa Fabbrini | |
| Signora Dufresne, Milo's wife | contralto | Ines Rosalba | |
| Chorus of actors, singers, dancers, stage crew, firemen, etc. | |||
References
Sources
- Casaglia, Gherardo (2005).[http://almanac-gherardo-casaglia.com/index.php?Testo=Zazà&Parola=Stringa "Zazà"]. L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
- Gelli, Piero (ed.), "Zazà", Dizionario dell'Opera, Baldini Castoldi Dalai, 2007, ISBN 88-6073-184-4. Accessed online 8 July 2009.
- Zazà archive at the Teatro Grattacielo. Retrieved, April, 2010.
- Gallery of photographic postcards from Alterocca-Terni of the first production of Zazà in 1900.
