Zanetto 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. "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; "Guglielmo Ratcliff", which
Brandon Jovanovich in Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos" with the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Boston Lyric Opera; the title role in Verdi's "Don Carlos" with the Houston Grand Opera; Turiddu in "Cavalleria rusticana" at the Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, Angers-Nantes Opéra, Palm Beach Opera and New York City Opera; Luigi in Puccini's "Il tabarro" with the San Francisco Opera and Angers-Nantes Opéra; Boris in Janáček's "Káťa Kabanová" at the Lyric Opera of Chicago; Steva in Janáček's "Jenufa" at the Bayrische Staatsoper and Angers-Nantes Opéra; the title role in Britten's "Peter Grimes" with Teatro di San Carlo in Napoli; Pollione in Bellini's