Summer Festival 2023: Mascagni's Zanetto

Beth Moxon - Zanetto
Elizabeth Hardman - Silvia

Jonathan Drummond - Piano
Rosie Kat - Director
John Lyon - Musical Director

A semi-staged performance of Mascagni’s little-known and rarely performed Zanetto, sung in Italian with English surtitles. Only 50 minutes long with a cast of two main characters, Zanetto is a unique opera that breaks away from many conventions of the genre.

Romance is dead and love is a lie - a chance encounter on a park bench may just prove otherwise…

Silvia is done with men - years of working as a sugar baby have convinced her that true love is something that just doesn’t happen for girls like her. She’s on the way back from seeing a client when she sees a musician - Zanetto - sleeping rough on a park bench. The two women have an instant connection, but Zanetto loves the freedom of following wherever the wind blows each day. They chat through the night and at sunrise Zanetto says maybe she could settle down after all...

Beth Moxon

Born and raised in Leeds, Beth is a recent Young Artist for the Opéra National de Lyon, Les Azuriales Festival and a ENOA/Britten Pears Scholar having completed her studies at the National Opera Studio. Previously, Beth gained an Artist Diploma from the Royal College of Music's International Opera School where she studied with Dinah Harris and a Masters (Distinction) from the Royal Academy of Music where she studied with Catherine Wyn Rogers. On stage, Beth has performed the roles of Mercedes (Bizet's Carmen), Mother/Sandman (Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel), Dorabella (Mozart's Cosi fan tutte), L'enfant (Ravel's L'enfant et les sortileges), Laura (Tchaikovsky's Iolanta), Penelope (Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria), 2nd Lady (The Magic Flute), Ella (Huw Watkins' In the locked room), Hermia (Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream), Lapak/Woodpecker/Grasshopper (Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen), Sally (Arne's Thomas and Sally), Rosimonda (Handel's Faramondo, London Handel Festival 2017), Maurya (Riders to the Sea), Nancy (Albert Herring), 3rd Boy (Die Zauberflöte) Frau Viehmann, the Witch and Granny in the European premier of Canadian composer Dean Burry’s chamber opera The Brothers Grimm, Juno/Public Opinion (Orpheus in the Underworld). Beth has covered the roles of Mrs Olsen in Weill's Street Scene for Opera North, Woodpecker in Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen and 2nd Bridesmaid in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro with Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Stewardess in Jonathan Dove's Flight with Opera Holland Park.

Elizabeth Hardman

Elizabeth is an early-career full-lyric soprano, having completed Master’s-level study with two commendations for vocal performance. Elizabeth was Europe Semi-Finalist Winner in the International Music Grand Prix and a participant of the Serena Fenwick Programme (National Opera Studio). She received tutelage from Sir Mark Elder, Nadine Benjamin, and Nicholas Kraemer. Roles include cover Mistress Page at Opera Holland Park (Vaughan-Williams’ Sir John in Love), Flora (Dove’s Enchanted Pig), Semele (Handel’s Semele), Rosalinde (Strauss’ Die Fledermaus), Mrs Grose (Britten’s Turn of the Screw), Saffi (Strauss’ Der Zigeunerbaron), Kay (King’s The Snow Queen), Melia (Mozart’s Apollo et Hyacinthus), Cunegonde/Paquette (Bernstein’s Candide), and Dido (Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas) with Leeds Youth Opera, King’s Opera and University of Leeds Opera. Elizabeth trained at British Youth Opera, King’s College London (2015 – 2018), and the University of Leeds (2019 – 2020). She is studying a PhD on ‘Confronting canonicity and promoting diversity: Gender and contemporary concert programming’ funded by Open-Oxford-Cambridge Doctoral Training Partnership.

Jonathan Drummond

Originally from New Zealand, Jonathan is a freelance musician based in Leeds. He has worked as an accompanist at Northern Ballet since 2017, has played for Opera North on numerous education projects across the north of England since 2016, and was a member of the music staff at Leeds Youth Opera from 2015-2022. He has performed as an accompanist in concerts across the UK, where he has been noted for his sensitive and informed interpretations and strong connection with singers. Alongside his work as an accompanist, Jonathan has conducted operas and musicals in Leeds and New Zealand, and he arranged and orchestrated the music for A Nice Dilemma (2017) and In Our Element (2018), both of which were world premieres.

Rosie Kat

Rosie is an opera director from Newcastle Upon Tyne. She trained at RWMD, graduating with Distinction in MA Opera Directing. She founded Y Opera (formerly Squillo Opera) in 2018; highlights include Donizetti’s Rita, He do the police in different voices, and The Mikado Is Watching You. Rosie's assisting work includes The Cunning Little Vixen (Opera North), Don Giovanni (Welsh National Opera), Patience (Charles Court Opera) and Amahl (Northern Opera Group). Rosie is passionate about engagement and co-creation with young people and communities. She was the Director of Leeds Youth Opera from 2020-2022, highlights include The Enchanted Pig and the world premiere of ARC23 by Attridge and Murphy, and co-created climate crisis opera Project Ultimatum. For the 2022 Tete a Tete festival, Rosie also directed new opera The Journey with the Citizens of the World Refugee Choir. Upcoming: Assistant Director Pearl Fishers (Opera North), Ruddigore (Opera Holland Park), Director La Cenerentola (Longhope Opera)

John Lyon

John Lyon is a conductor, arranger/composer, violinist and choral singer. He is the principal conductor of Leeds Symphony Orchestra and a Music Leader for Sheffield City Council’s music education service, where he is in demand for his ensemble coaching, individual instrumental tuition, and innovative pedagogy. John completed undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in musicology at the University of Leeds, where he conducted the university’s chamber and symphony orchestras as well as musically directing for the university opera society. John was the musical director of Leeds Youth Opera from 2019-2022 and has collaborated with an ever-growing list of orchestras, choirs, and ensembles in Yorkshire and across the UK and mainland Europe.

Go behind the scenes with the cast and crew of Zanetto here.