| Zanetto | |
|---|---|
| Opera by Pietro Mascagni | |
 Cover of the souvenir libretto printed for the first New York performance 1902 | |
| Librettist | |
| Language | Italian |
| Based on | Emilio Praga's translation of Le Passant (1869) by François Coppée |
| Premiere | 2 March 1896 Liceo Musicale Rossini, Pesaro |
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.