Zazà

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Operas by Ruggero Leoncavallo

Pagliacci (1892)
I Medici (1893)
La bohème (1897)
Zazà (1900)
Are You There? (1913)

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Zazà is an opera by Ruggero Leoncavallo, with the libretto by the composer. Its première at the Teatro Lirico di Milano on November 10, 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 next 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 January 16, 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.

The role of Zazà demands everything of a singer: stamina, for she sings almost continuously throughout all four acts; vocalism of the highest order demanding the full range of dynamic shading and expression; a presence of charm and allure; and superb acting skills.

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.

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