{"product_id":"4909346027329","title":"Svetlana Aksenova - Leoncavallo: Zaza - Import DVD","description":"\u003cp\u003eCredits:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSvetlana Aksenova\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDescription:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLeoncavallo's ultimate verismo opera\nZazà, an opera brimming with fragile, beautiful melody\n\nLeoncavallo's Zazà 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. Zazà 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.\n\nSynopsis\nZazà is the star of a music hall in Saint-Étienne, on the outskirts of Paris. There she meets the Parisian businessman Milio Dufresne and the two become lovers. Zazà hopes to marry Milio and leave the theatre, but her fellow performer and former lover Cascart tells her that he has seen Milio in Paris with another woman. Furious, Zazà bursts into Milio's house, only to find his young daughter Totò there. She realises that he has concealed the existence of a wife and child. Zazà's own father abandoned the family and her mother took to drink; determined that Totò should not suffer as she did, she resolves to end the affair.\n\nThe title role is taken by the Russian soprano Svetlana Aksenova, who sings this demanding part - on stage throughout - with power and brilliance. Milio is sung by the Graz-born Austrian tenor Nikolai Schukoff, who has built a substantial career as a jugendlicher Heldentenor, while the distinguished British baritone Christopher Maltman drives the drama forward as Cascart with considerable intensity.\n\nZazà is still not performed often today, and this release is a welcome opportunity to enjoy a beautiful opera steeped in Leoncavallo's sweet-toned melody, in a thoroughly accomplished performance.\nKing International\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"C Major","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53374669979937,"sku":"4909346027329","price":4158.0,"currency_code":"JPY","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0568\/8482\/2076\/files\/4909346027329.jpg?v=1787632262","url":"https:\/\/cdsvinyljapan.com\/products\/4909346027329","provider":"CDs Vinyl Japan Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}