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''Zanetto'' is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci. It received its first performance on 2 March 1896 at the Liceo Musicale Rossini in Pesaro. Only 40 minutes long and with cast of two singers, ''Zanetto'' was originally described by its composer as a ''scena lirica'' (lyric scene) rather than an opera. It is set in the countryside near Florence during the Renaissance and tells the story of an encounter between a beautiful courtesan, Silvia, and a young wandering minstrel, Zanetto. The libretto was adapted from an Italian translation by Emilio Praga of François Coppée's play ''Le passant'' (The passer-by) in which the young Sarah Bernhardt had won fame in the ''en travesti'' role of Zanetto. ==Background and performance history== ''Zanetto'' represented a return by Mascagni to the one-act format of his first opera ''Cavalleria rusticana'', which had premiered in 1890. However, the Renaissance setting of ''Zanetto'' was a far cry from the gritty contemporary story he used for ''Cavalleria rusticana'', the work that made him famous. By 1893, Mascagni was simultaneously working on three operas: ''Vistilia'', based on a novel by Rocco de Zerbi set in ancient Rome;〔''Vistilia'' was never completed and much of it was later used by Mascagni in ''Nerone''. See Mallach (2002) pp. 73-74〕 ''Guglielmo Ratcliff'', which he had first started composing in 1882;〔Stivender (1963)〕 and ''Zanetto'', which his publisher, Edoardo Sonzogno, envisioned being performed in future double bills with ''Cavalleria''.〔Mallach (2002) p. 92〕 Mascagni finally finished ''Zanetto'' in October 1895. It was premiered on 2 March 1896 as part of the annual celebrations in honour of Rossini's birthday at the Liceo Musicale Rossini in Pesaro, where Mascagni was now the director. Two of the conservatory's students, Maria Pizzagalli and Stefania Collamarini, sang the roles of Silvia and Zanetto.〔Mallach (2002) p. 109〕 The opera was then staged at La Scala on 18 March with the same cast. Although the opera had been enthusiastically received in Pesaro, the reception at La Scala was lukewarm. Edoardo Pompei, a music critic and early biographer of Mascagni, ascribed this to the slightness of the work which was magnified in large theatre such as La Scala accustomed to grandiose productions: "It would be as if one presented a miniature from a fourth-floor window and then expected the public to appreciate it from the street."〔Mallach (2002) p. 110.〕 Despite its reception at La Scala, the work was performed throughout Italy in smaller theatres during the year following its premiere. It was also performed in a private performance in London by the Ravogli sisters, Sofia and Giulia in 1896. ''Zanetto'' had its US premiere on 8 October 1902 at the old Metropolitan Opera House conducted by Mascagni with Elena Bianchini-Cappelli as Silvia and Eugenia Mantelli as Zanetto. As at La Scala, the reception was mixed. The ''New York Times'' critic pronounced the music as "sonorous, mellifluous, and melodious" and praised the performances of Bianchini-Cappelli and Mantelli, but concluded that "outside of Italy, ''Zanetto'' can never become more than a mild curtain-raiser".〔New York Times (9 October 1902) p. 8. 〕 Premieres in the other major Italian opera houses came rather sporadically: 1905 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome, 1913 at La Fenice in Venice, 1920 at the Teatro Regio in Turin, and 1940 at the Teatro Comunale in Florence.〔Casaglia〕 More recently, the opera was performed at the New Jersey State Opera in 1988,〔Holland (12 October 1988)〕 the Teatro Comunale in Florence in 1996 (with Sonia Ganassi as Zanetto),〔Pugliaro (1996) p. 82〕 the Teatro Astor in Savona in 2003, the Teatro Goldoni in Livorno in 2007,〔Pugliaro (2008) p. 106〕 and New York's Carnegie Hall in 2007 (in a concert performance with Jennifer Larmore as Zanetto).〔Gooding (June 2008)〕 A new production is scheduled for summer 2012 at Opera Holland Park in London, when it will be paired with Gianni Schicchi by Puccini. The setting of the 2003 performance in Savona (preserved on DVD) was updated to the 20th century, with an ending that deviated considerably from the original libretto. In the original after renouncing her love for young Zanetto and sending him away, Sylvia weeps alone as she watches him disappear in the distance. However, the Savona director, Beppe De Tomasi, had Sylvia pull out a pistol and shoot herself instead. A brief section of the final music in the scene had to be played twice to accompany the extra stage-business involved in Sylvia's suicide.〔Howell (February 2009)〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Zanetto」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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