''Zazà'' is an opera by

Ruggero Leoncavallo Ruggero (or Ruggiero) Leoncavallo ( , , ; 23 April 18579 August 1919) was an Italian opera composer and librettist. Although he produced numerous operas and other songs throughout his career it is his opera '' Pagliacci'' (1892) that remained hi ...

, with a libretto by the composer. The story concerns the French

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...

singer, Zazà, and her affair and subsequent decision to leave her lover, Milio, when she discovers that he is married. The music is influenced by the French music halls where Leoncavallo had spent his early years as a composer. Its premiere was at the Teatro Lirico in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

on 10 November 1900, starring

Rosina Storchio Rosina Storchio (19 January 1872 – 24 July 1945) was an Italian lyric coloratura soprano who starred in the world premieres of operas by Puccini, Leoncavallo, Mascagni and Giordano. Biography Born in Venice in 1872, Storchio studie ...

as Zazà,

Edoardo Garbin Edoardo Garbin (12 March 1865 – 12 April 1943) was an Italian operatic tenor. He was married to the soprano Adelina Stehle. One of the most important Italian tenors of his day, Garbin created, inter alia, tenor roles in Alberto Franchetti's ...

as Milio,

Mario Sammarco (Giuseppe) Mario Sammarco (13 December 1868, although some sources say 1867 – 24 January 1930) was an Italian operatic baritone noted for his acting ability. Biography Sammarco was born in Palermo, Sicily, and studied locally with Antonio Can ...

as Cascart and Clorinda Pini-Corsi as Anaide, and conducted by

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orch ...

. It was later seen in opera houses around the world. Over the following twenty years it received over fifty new productions from

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

to Paris, Buenos Aires to Moscow,

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, arriving at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

on 16 January 1920 in a production directed by

David Belasco David Belasco (July 25, 1853 – May 14, 1931) was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director, and playwright. He was the first writer to adapt the short story ''Madame Butterfly'' for the stage. He launched the theatrical career of m ...

and conducted by

Roberto Moranzoni Roberto Moranzoni (October 5, 1880, Bari - December 14, 1959, Milan) was an Italian conductor, principally of opera. Moranzoni was a pupil of Pietro Mascagni and was selected by Mascagni to give his debut performances with the composer's ''Le mas ...

, starring

Geraldine Farrar Alice Geraldine Farrar (February 28, 1882 – March 11, 1967) was an American lyric soprano who could also sing dramatic roles. She was noted for her beauty, acting ability, and "the intimate timbre of her voice." She had a large following a ...

, Giulio Crimi and

Pasquale Amato Pasquale Amato (21 March 1878 – 12 August 1942) was an Italian operatic baritone. Amato enjoyed an international reputation but attained the peak of his fame in New York City, where he sang with the Metropolitan Opera from 1908 until 1921. E ...

, and later,

Giovanni Martinelli Giovanni Martinelli (22 October 1885 – 2 February 1969) was an Italian operatic tenor. He was associated with the Italian lyric-dramatic repertory, although he performed French operatic roles to great acclaim as well. Martinelli was one of t ...

and

Giuseppe De Luca Giuseppe De Luca (25 December 1876 – 26 August 1950), was an Italian baritone who achieved his greatest triumphs at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. He notably created roles in the world premieres of two operas by Giacomo Puccini: Sha ...

. ''

La bohème ''La bohème'' (; ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions ''quadri'', ''tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe G ...

'' and ''Zazà'' are the operas of Leoncavallo's which most nearly matched the success of ''Pagliacci'', although both enjoy few contemporary productions, and are relatively little-known beyond circles of Opera enthusiasts. ''

Dayton Daily News The ''Dayton Daily News'' (''DDN'') is a daily newspaper published in Dayton, Ohio, United States. It is owned by Cox Enterprises, Inc., a privately held global conglomerate headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, with approximately ...

'' editor Betty Dietz Krebs described ''Zazà'' as alternating "between moments of passion and intensity and stretches of comedy" and said that it contains "a string of

aria In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

s." Reviews of early performances in New York were lukewarm on the music and stated that the best music was similar to that of ''Pagliacci''. Reviewing an early performance at the Metropolitan Opera in 1920, the ''

New York Tribune The ''New-York Tribune'' was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s through the 1860s it was the domi ...

'' stated that the music "is not fresh or original, nor even characteristic of its composer except in places where it is reminiscent of ''Pagliacci'', and even in its best moments it is sadly lacking in distinction; but it challenges praise which must go to the creation of a man who knew his business, knew it thoroughly." Reviewing the Metropolitan premiere ''

The Standard Union The ''Brooklyn Times-Union'' was an American newspaper published from 1848 to 1937. Launched in 1848 as the ''Williamsburgh Daily Times'', the publication became the ''Brooklyn Daily Times'' when the cities of Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a bor ...

'' stated that the opera "was best when it most recalled 'Pagliacci''" ''

The New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the ''New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. His ...

'' praised

's performance in the title role at the Metropolitan premiere but said that the music "neither illuminates nor interferes with the drama. It is often futile, often a mere blank, but by no means infrequently in excellent accord with the sentiment of the situation. If there are few vocal climaxes, the two or three that exist are theatrically well planned."

Roles

References

Sources * *Gelli, Piero (ed.)
"Zazà"
''Dizionario dell'Opera'', Baldini Castoldi Dalai, 2007, . Accessed online 8 July 2009.

at the

Teatro Grattacielo Teatro Grattacielo is a professional opera company based in New York City specializing in concert performances of rarely heard verismo operas. The company's past performances have included the North American premieres of Mascagni's ''Il piccolo M ...

. Retrieved, April, 2010.
Gallery of photographic postcards
from Alterocca-Terni of the first production of ''Zazà'' in 1900. {{DEFAULTSORT:Zaza Operas Operas by Ruggero Leoncavallo Italian-language operas 1900 operas Operas set in France