Credits:

Svetlana Aksenova

Description:

Leoncavallo’s ultimate verismo operaZaz, an opera brimming with fragile, beautiful melodyLeoncavallo’s Zaz opened the 2020 season at the Theater an der Wien. Cast in four acts, with both music and libretto by the composer himself, it is filled with the wistful, beautiful melody that is Leoncavallo’s hallmark. Before the success of his best-known work, Pagliacci, Leoncavallo earned his living playing the piano in Parisian music halls, and one of the opera’s distinguishing features is its vivid portrayal of just such a music hall on the outskirts of Paris. Zaz was premiered at the Teatro Lirico in Milan in 1900, and shortly before his death in 1919 Leoncavallo produced a revised version with the more discursive passages cut. This production is based on that revision, while also incorporating passages from the original 1900 version.SynopsisZaz is the star of a music hall in Saint-tienne, on t