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{{Short description|Italian opera genre associated with humor}}
'''Opera buffa''' (a form of ]), also known as '''Commedia in musica''' or '''Commedia per musica''', is a genre of ]. It developed in ] in the first half of the ], and from there its popularity spread to ] and northern ].
⚫ {{Distinguish|Opéra bouffe}}


]'', 1832 opera buffa]]
⚫ == History ==
'''Opera buffa''' ({{IPA|it|ˈɔːpera ˈbuffa|lang}}, "comic opera"; {{plural form}}: ''opere buffe'') is a genre of ]. It was first used as an informal description of Italian ]s variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramma bernesco'', ''dramma comico'', ''divertimento giocoso''.


Especially associated with developments in ] in the first half of the 18th century, whence its popularity spread to ] and ], ''buffa'' was at first characterized by everyday settings, local dialects, and simple vocal writing (the ] is the associated voice type), the main requirement being clear diction and facility with ].
In the history of operatic development, Opera buffa formed as a response to the stylistic characteristics (and wanton excesses) of the ] style. Opera buffa was, in part, intended to transform opera into a genre that the common man could relate to more easily. Whereas opera seria was a lavish entertainment that was both made for and depicted kings and nobility, opera buffa was made for and depicted common people with more common problems.


'']'' considers ''La Cilla'' (music by ], text by {{ill|Francesco Antonio Tullio|it}}, 1706) and ] and ]'s'' ]'' (1850) to be the first and last appearances of the genre, although the term is still occasionally applied to newer work (for example ]'s '']'' '']''). High points in this history are the 80 or so libretti by Carlindo Grolo, Loran Glodici, Sogol Cardoni<ref name =tenth>Patrick J. Smith: ''The Tenth Muse'' (Schirmer 1970) p. 103.</ref> and various other approximate ]s of ], the three ]/] collaborations, and the comedies of ] and ].
Comic characters and situations, usually involving servants, had been a part of opera seria until the early 18th century, when comic opera, or "opera buffa", began to emerge as a separate genre. At first, comic operas were composed as short, one-act interludes that were performed in between acts of opera seria. Such an interlude was known as an ], and formed the precursor to the full-fledged comic opera that would develop later in the 18th century. ] by ] (]–]), is the one intermezzo still performed with any regularity today, and provides an excellent example of the style.


Similar foreign genres such as French '']'', English '']'', Spanish '']'' or German '']'' differed as well in having spoken dialogue in place of ''] secco'', although one of the most influential examples, ]'s {{Lang|it|]}} (which is an ], not opera buffa), sparked the '']'' in Paris as an adaptation without sung ]s.
Apart from Pergolesi, the first major composers of opera buffa were ], ] and ], all of them based in ] or ].


==Opéra bouffon==
== Popularity as a goal ==
] is the French term for the Italian genre of opera buffa (comic opera) performed in 18th-century France, either in the original language or in French translation. It was also applied to original French ] having Italianate or near-farcical plots.<ref>{{Cite Grove|last=Bartlet|first=M. Elizabeth C.|author-link=Elizabeth Bartlet (musicologist)|title=Opéra bouffon|id=43699|year=2001}}</ref>


The term was also later used by ] for five of his ]s ('']'', '']'', '']'', ''{{ill|Le roman comique|fr|Le Roman comique (opéra)}}'' and ''Le voyage de MM. Dunanan père et fils''<ref>{{IMSLP|work=Le voyage de MM. Dunanan père et fils (Offenbach, Jacques)|cname=''Le voyage de MM. Dunanan père et fils'' (Offenbach)}}</ref>), and is sometimes confused with the French ] and ].<ref>Notably André-Guillaume Contant d'Orville (''Histoire de l'opéra bouffon'', Amsterdam, 1768, and ) used the term as a synonym for ''opéra comique'' {{harv|Bartlet|2001}}.</ref>
Popularity was the writers' intention, so these "experiments" (as they were called by resisting formalist musicians) also had intelligible vocal content. This is in contrast with traditional music that, after ], had passed to rigid formal schemes extended in Latin or in German, never comprehensible for the general public. Abandoning these languages for the more friendly Italian and French, Recitativo instead broke that habit (which also rendered music an exclusive interest for certain cultural communities, and not even all of them). The public was finally able to decipher the words that singers pronounced, the story beyond the music was intelligible. It was a relevant movement toward laïcal themes "de-sacralised" music, allowing acceptance of a concept of "music for mere entertainment".


⚫ ==History==
Most of these facts regard opera in general, but Opera buffa in particular. It is indeed very difficult to adopt a formalist scheme for a classification of Opera buffa, since no one would ever deny the serious content and value of some among the best known works that are usually ascribed to its kind, even when they declaratively are a "Dramma giocoso" rather than expressedly an "Opera buffa", and we generally include them all in "Opera". Any distinctive element has therefore to be considered in a relative proportion, in comparison with the many singularities that each work showed.
], one of the first major composers of opera buffa]]
Comic characters had been a part of opera until the early 18th century, when opera buffa began to emerge as a separate genre, an early precursor having been the operatic comedy, '']'', by ], in 1679. Opera buffa was a parallel development to '']'', and arose in reaction to the so-called first reform of ] and ].<ref name=tenth/> It was, in part, intended as a genre that the common man could relate to more easily. Whereas ''opera seria'' was an entertainment that was both made for and depicted kings and nobility, opera buffa was made for and depicted common people with more common problems. High-flown language was generally avoided in favor of dialogue that the lower class would relate to, often in the local dialect, and the stock characters were often derived from those of the Italian ]. The 1701 ''scherzo drammatico'' (dramatic jest), ''Il mondo abbattuto'' by ] was particularly influential in Naples, creating a popular model due to its use of both Tuscan and Neapolitan dialects.<ref>{{cite Grove|last=Jackman|first=James L.|others=Revised by Francesca Seller|year=2001|title=Sabini , Nicola|id=24234}}</ref>


In the early 18th century, comic operas often appeared as short, one-act interludes known as ] that were performed in between acts of opera seria. There also existed, however, self-contained operatic comedies. {{Lang|it|]}} (1733) by ] (1710–1736), is the one intermezzo still performed with any regularity today, and provides an excellent example of the style. '']'' (1732) and '']'' (1735), by Pergolesi as well, are examples of the three-act ''commedia per musica''.<ref>Both operas by Pergolesi were originally styled a {{lang|it|commedia per musica}} by their own librettos (to be precise, {{lang|nap|commeddeja pe mmuseca}} in ] as regards the former): cf and .</ref>
Certainly, while Opera seria dealt with mythical subjects such as gods and ancient heroes, and only episodically contained comic scenes, Opera buffa had those scenes as its most important part, and sometimes the reason for the opera itself. Music was going in the direction of public, so what could be more appropriated than themes and stories that common people could have enjoyed? Comic stories in opera were the final translation (for the times) of music for entertainment.


Apart from Pergolesi, the first major composers of opera buffa were ] ('']'', 1718), ] (''Il governatore'', 1747) and ] ('']'', 1754), all of them based in ] or ]. The work of these was then resumed and expanded by ] ('']'', 1760), ] ('']'', 1789) and ] ('']'', 1792). The genre declined in the mid-19th century, despite ]'s '']'' staged in 1893.
In some of the Opere buffa, a language was used that the lower class would relate to, often in the local dialect, and used caricatures that were often found in Italian '']''.


The importance of opera buffa diminished during the ]. Here, the forms were freer and less extended than in the serious genre and the set numbers were linked by recitativo secco, the exception being ]'s '']'' in 1843. With Rossini, a standard distribution of four characters is reached: a prima donna soubrette (soprano or mezzo); a light, amorous tenor; a {{lang|it|basso cantante}} or baritone capable of lyrical, mostly ironical expression; and a {{lang|it|basso buffo}} whose vocal skills, largely confined to clear articulation and the ability to "patter", must also extend to the baritone for the purposes of comic duets.<ref>Fisher, Burton D. '']'' (Opera Classics Library Series). Grand Rapids: Opera Journeys, 2005.</ref>
It is sometimes affirmed that in Opera buffa musical content is often simpler, maybe poorer, limited in length and in fantasy, and these would be sufficient reasons not to include it in the higher genres. Nevertheless, the now discussed genius of Mozart didn't miss the chance of giving us a masterpiece ], or perhaps two ] and was followed by pretty much all the major composers. And it must not be forgotten that instruments and voices were developed within this musical area and later accepted for other compositions too, as the Puccini's ''basso buffo'' in ']'


⚫ The type of comedy could vary, and the range was great: from ] '']'' in 1816 which was purely comedic, to ]'s '']'' in 1786 which added drama and pathos. Another example of Romantic opera buffa would be Donizetti's '']'' of 1832.
Obviously the role of the ] writer became fundamental. It has been noted that while music was "popularising", librettos still used a language that remained far from the one commonly used (even if it was no longer Latin or German), and in some case what music had gained in simplicity, text had lost by preserving emphasis. The operistic composers that meant to finally be comprehensible with an entertaining music, found in Librettisti their "croce e delizia", their torture and delight. Librettos became the conservative part of Opera, and were the element of opera most contested by the public who often could not follow the content or, eventually, could misunderstand it. A famous emblematic case is in Verdi's ''Il Trovatore,'' where the verse of the Count: "Ah! l'amor, l'amore ond'ardo" (Ah, love, the love I'm burning of) was by assonance generally received as the more probable "Ah! l'amor, l'amore é un dardo" (Ah, love, love is an arrow) (an example of a ]), and this only because the general style of language used would not allow a complete understanding by ear (without the written text to read), and because the general phraseologic sense of the duet was not simple. But rhyme reasons and poetical licenses were invoked by librettisti, frequently doubtfully discharged.


==Relation to and differences from ''opera seria''==
⚫ The type of comedy could vary, and the range was great: from ] '']'' in 1816 which was purely comedic, to ] '']'' in 1786 which added drama and pathos. The genre declined in the 19th century, and it is often considered that ] '']'', in 1893 was the last of the Opera buffa.
While '']'' deals with gods and ancient heroes and only occasionally contained comic scenes, opera buffa involves the predominant use of comic scenes, characters, and plot lines in a contemporary setting. The traditional model for ''opera seria'' had three acts, dealt with serious subjects in mythical settings, as stated above, and used high voices (both ]s and ]) for principal characters, often even for monarchs.


In contrast, the model that generally held for opera buffa was having two acts (as, for example, ''The Barber of Seville''), presenting comic scenes and situations as earlier stated and using the lower male voices to the exclusion of the ].<ref>]; West, Ewan (1992), ''The Oxford Dictionary of Opera'', {{ISBN|0-19-869164-5}}{{page needed|date=August 2023}}</ref> This led to the creation of the characteristic "]", a specialist in ] who was the center of most of the comic action. (A well-known basso buffo role is Leporello in ] '']''.)
Some authors have advanced the idea that one of the important aspects of Opera buffa would be that it imposed the attention on the audience, rather than "on conservatories", and this helped the greater Opera too to milden its melodies in order to be more easily and widely accepted. Also, it is said that Opera buffa was a sort of demonstration of the concrete possibility of breaking rigid rules, yet consolidated, that before were considered unchangeable. Moreover, some critics usually recall the famous insertions of popular themes (i.e. choruses and voices in Bizet's ''Carmen,'' as well as the ''tarantella'' in Tchaijkovskij's all-musical Capriccio Italiano) as different examples on different fields of the constant need for musicians to get out of formalism, to let everyday life enter music, after the essential lesson of Opera buffa.


==See also==
On an external side, French ''Encyclopédistes'' considered Opera buffa "à l'Italienne" a positive response to the imperative schemes then used, and made it become a sort of symbol of compositive freedom.
{{Portal|Italy|Opera}}


==Sources== ==References==
{{Reflist}}
''Opera buffa'' by Piero Weiss and Julian Budden, in 'The ]', ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992) ISBN 0-333-73432-7


==See also== ==Further reading==
{{div col|colwidth=45em}}
]
* ], et al. , ''Oxford Music Online'' sections 7&ndash;10. {{subscription required}}
* ], ''A Short History of Opera''. New York, Columbia University Press, 1965.
* Hunter, Mary (1999), ''The Culture of ''opera buffa'' in Mozart's Vienna: A Poetics of Entertainment''. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey 1999. (reviewed in: Stevens, Jane R. "Shifting Focus to Mozart's Operas". '']'', vol. 35, no. 1 (Fall 2001) pp.&nbsp;160–162.)
* Opera buffa. ''World Book Online Reference Center''. 2008.
* ], ''The Oxford illustrated History of Opera''
* Platoff, John (1992). "How Original Was Mozart? Evidence from "Opera Buffa"." '']'': vol. 20, no. 1. Oxford University Press, February 1992. pp. 105–117.
* {{cite Grove|last1=Weiss|first1=Piero|author1-link=Piero Weiss|last2=Budden|first2=Julian|author2-link=Julian Budden|title=Opera buffa (It.: 'comic opera')|year=2001|id=43721|ref=none}}
* ]; Hunter, Mary (1997). ''Opera Buffa in Mozart's Vienna''. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England 1997. (reviewed in: Baker, Nicole. "Untitled". '']'', second series, vol. 56, no. 1 (September 1999) pp.&nbsp;138–140.)
{{div col end}}


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Latest revision as of 21:08, 14 September 2024

Italian opera genre associated with humor Not to be confused with Opéra bouffe.
L'elisir d'amore, 1832 opera buffa

Opera buffa (Italian: [ˈɔːpera ˈbuffa], "comic opera"; pl.: opere buffe) is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as commedia in musica, commedia per musica, dramma bernesco, dramma comico, divertimento giocoso.

Especially associated with developments in Naples in the first half of the 18th century, whence its popularity spread to Rome and northern Italy, buffa was at first characterized by everyday settings, local dialects, and simple vocal writing (the basso buffo is the associated voice type), the main requirement being clear diction and facility with patter.

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera considers La Cilla (music by Michelangelo Faggioli, text by Francesco Antonio Tullio [it], 1706) and Luigi and Federico Ricci's Crispino e la comare (1850) to be the first and last appearances of the genre, although the term is still occasionally applied to newer work (for example Ernst Krenek's Zeitoper Schwergewicht). High points in this history are the 80 or so libretti by Carlindo Grolo, Loran Glodici, Sogol Cardoni and various other approximate anagrams of Carlo Goldoni, the three Mozart/Da Ponte collaborations, and the comedies of Gioachino Rossini and Gaetano Donizetti.

Similar foreign genres such as French opéra comique, English ballad opera, Spanish zarzuela or German Singspiel differed as well in having spoken dialogue in place of recitativo secco, although one of the most influential examples, Pergolesi's La serva padrona (which is an intermezzo, not opera buffa), sparked the querelle des bouffons in Paris as an adaptation without sung recitatives.

Opéra bouffon

Opéra bouffon is the French term for the Italian genre of opera buffa (comic opera) performed in 18th-century France, either in the original language or in French translation. It was also applied to original French opéras comiques having Italianate or near-farcical plots.

The term was also later used by Jacques Offenbach for five of his operettas (Orphée aux enfers, Le pont des soupirs, Geneviève de Brabant, Le roman comique [fr] and Le voyage de MM. Dunanan père et fils), and is sometimes confused with the French opéra comique and opéra bouffe.

History

Alessandro Scarlatti, one of the first major composers of opera buffa

Comic characters had been a part of opera until the early 18th century, when opera buffa began to emerge as a separate genre, an early precursor having been the operatic comedy, Il Trespolo tutore, by Alessandro Stradella, in 1679. Opera buffa was a parallel development to opera seria, and arose in reaction to the so-called first reform of Apostolo Zeno and Pietro Metastasio. It was, in part, intended as a genre that the common man could relate to more easily. Whereas opera seria was an entertainment that was both made for and depicted kings and nobility, opera buffa was made for and depicted common people with more common problems. High-flown language was generally avoided in favor of dialogue that the lower class would relate to, often in the local dialect, and the stock characters were often derived from those of the Italian commedia dell'arte. The 1701 scherzo drammatico (dramatic jest), Il mondo abbattuto by Nicola Sabini was particularly influential in Naples, creating a popular model due to its use of both Tuscan and Neapolitan dialects.

In the early 18th century, comic operas often appeared as short, one-act interludes known as intermezzi that were performed in between acts of opera seria. There also existed, however, self-contained operatic comedies. La serva padrona (1733) by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–1736), is the one intermezzo still performed with any regularity today, and provides an excellent example of the style. Lo frate 'nnamorato (1732) and Il Flaminio (1735), by Pergolesi as well, are examples of the three-act commedia per musica.

Apart from Pergolesi, the first major composers of opera buffa were Alessandro Scarlatti (Il trionfo dell'onore, 1718), Nicola Logroscino (Il governatore, 1747) and Baldassare Galuppi (Il filosofo di campagna, 1754), all of them based in Naples or Venice. The work of these was then resumed and expanded by Niccolò Piccinni (La Cecchina, 1760), Giovanni Paisiello (Nina, 1789) and Domenico Cimarosa (Il matrimonio segreto, 1792). The genre declined in the mid-19th century, despite Giuseppe Verdi's Falstaff staged in 1893.

The importance of opera buffa diminished during the Romantic period. Here, the forms were freer and less extended than in the serious genre and the set numbers were linked by recitativo secco, the exception being Donizetti's Don Pasquale in 1843. With Rossini, a standard distribution of four characters is reached: a prima donna soubrette (soprano or mezzo); a light, amorous tenor; a basso cantante or baritone capable of lyrical, mostly ironical expression; and a basso buffo whose vocal skills, largely confined to clear articulation and the ability to "patter", must also extend to the baritone for the purposes of comic duets.

The type of comedy could vary, and the range was great: from Rossini's The Barber of Seville in 1816 which was purely comedic, to Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro in 1786 which added drama and pathos. Another example of Romantic opera buffa would be Donizetti's The Elixir of Love of 1832.

Relation to and differences from opera seria

While opera seria deals with gods and ancient heroes and only occasionally contained comic scenes, opera buffa involves the predominant use of comic scenes, characters, and plot lines in a contemporary setting. The traditional model for opera seria had three acts, dealt with serious subjects in mythical settings, as stated above, and used high voices (both sopranos and castrati) for principal characters, often even for monarchs.

In contrast, the model that generally held for opera buffa was having two acts (as, for example, The Barber of Seville), presenting comic scenes and situations as earlier stated and using the lower male voices to the exclusion of the castrati. This led to the creation of the characteristic "basso buffo", a specialist in patter who was the center of most of the comic action. (A well-known basso buffo role is Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni.)

See also

References

  1. ^ Patrick J. Smith: The Tenth Muse (Schirmer 1970) p. 103.
  2. Bartlet, M. Elizabeth C. (2001). "Opéra bouffon". Grove Music Online (8th ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.43699. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0.
  3. Le voyage de MM. Dunanan père et fils (Offenbach): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
  4. Notably André-Guillaume Contant d'Orville (Histoire de l'opéra bouffon, Amsterdam, 1768, Vol. I and Vol. II) used the term as a synonym for opéra comique (Bartlet 2001).
  5. Jackman, James L. (2001). "Sabini , Nicola". Grove Music Online. Revised by Francesca Seller (8th ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.24234. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0.
  6. Both operas by Pergolesi were originally styled a commedia per musica by their own librettos (to be precise, commeddeja pe mmuseca in Neapolitan as regards the former): cf Lo frate ’nnamorato, 1732 and Il Flaminio, 1735.
  7. Fisher, Burton D. The Barber of Seville (Opera Classics Library Series). Grand Rapids: Opera Journeys, 2005.
  8. Warrack, John; West, Ewan (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, ISBN 0-19-869164-5

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