After Leoncavallo’s Zazà (7/16), Opera Rara continues to mine the nether regions of the verismo alphabet with the same composer’s Zingari. Its libretto draws on Alexander Pushkin’s 1824 narrative poem ‘The Gypsies’, which was also the basis for Rachmaninov’s graduation work, Aleko – they’d make a great double bill. ‘The Gypsies’ was also an influence on Bizet’s Carmen, for Prosper Mérimée had been Pushkin’s first French translator.

In Zingari, Fleana, a beautiful gypsy, is in love with a young nobleman, Radu, who renounces his wealth to marry her. But the gypsy poet Tamar declares his own love for Fleana and, a year after her wedding, she runs away with him. Radu vows vengeance and burns their hut down, the lovers trapped inside.

Where Rachmaninov’s opera is slathered in slavic gloom, Leoncavallo peppers his with plenty of musical colour. There’s a jolly choral prelude with anvil that makes the chorus from Verdi’s Il trovatore sound staid, plus Eastern European polonaise, csárdás and mazurka rhythms, an offstage gypsy violin and outpourings of verismo passion. Leoncavallo’s music is rich and sensual, and it’s something of a mystery why it doesn’t have a place in the repertory. Premiered at London’s Hippodrome Theatre in 1912, Zingari was a big hit in its day but fell out of fashion after the composer’s death.

Opera Rara’s artistic director Carlo Rizzi assembled a fine cast for this studio recording, made in tandem with a concert performance in December 2021 at Cadogan Hall. Krassimira Stoyanova is tremendous as the fiery Fleana, igniting flames of passion in the gypsy camp. The Bulgarian soprano is in voluptuous voice, yet is always tasteful, with exquisite soft notes. Arsen Soghomonyan is less subtle as her noble lover, Radu, but their duet is excitingly sung. The Armenian tenor excels when Radu realises Tamar is luring his woman away, becoming increasingly unhinged. Stephen Gaertner – a latish replacement for the originally scheduled Carlos Álvarez – lends his firm baritone to the role of Tamar (having sung Cascart in Opera Rara’s 2015 Zazà), while Łukasz Goliński makes the most of his limited opportunities as the gypsy chief.

Rizzi is fabulous in this sort of repertoire and he draws committed playing from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in a score that has lost parts reorchestrated by Martin Fitzpatrick. The Opera Rara Chorus has lots to do in the colourful early scenes, singing with plenty of lustre. There is limited competition on disc, a live account from Milan under Daniele Agiman released last year on Bongiovanni, but this new Opera Rara recording is superior in every way.