Opera buffa

<h2 id="opra-bouffon">Opéra bouffon</h2>
<a href="/facts/Op%25C3%25A9ra_bouffon/XQPRE9WB">Opéra bouffon</a> 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 <a href="/facts/Op%25C3%25A9ras_comiques/mKGey8of">opéras comiques</a> having Italianate or near-farcical plots.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2">2</a>
The term was also later used by <a href="/facts/Jacques_Offenbach/pVgxoAU9">Jacques Offenbach</a> for five of his <a href="/facts/Operetta/7aRrbfyz">operettas</a> (<a href="/facts/Orph%25C3%25A9e_aux_enfers/SsUlsNJc">Orphée aux enfers</a>, <a href="/facts/Le_pont_des_soupirs/AHl93yyM">Le pont des soupirs</a>, <a href="/facts/Genevi%25C3%25A8ve_de_Brabant/zkS6PcyJ">Geneviève de Brabant</a>, Le roman comique [fr] and Le voyage de MM. Dunanan père et fils<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3">3</a>), and is sometimes confused with the French <a href="/facts/Op%25C3%25A9ra_comique/mKGey8of">opéra comique</a> and <a href="/facts/Op%25C3%25A9ra_bouffe/ux1cPU3V">opéra bouffe</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4">4</a>

<h2 id="history">History</h2>

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, <a href="/facts/Il_Trespolo_tutore/ctpQv1rT">Il Trespolo tutore</a>, by <a href="/facts/Alessandro_Stradella/lwU9pE8E">Alessandro Stradella</a>, in 1679. Opera buffa was a parallel development to <a href="/facts/Opera_seria/k1TQIr4h">opera seria</a>, and arose in reaction to the so-called first reform of <a href="/facts/Apostolo_Zeno/8u9kbuN4">Apostolo Zeno</a> and <a href="/facts/Pietro_Metastasio/W2eFPoQg">Pietro Metastasio</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5">5</a> 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 <a href="/facts/Commedia_dell%2527arte/9ozR80dg">commedia dell'arte</a>. The 1701 scherzo drammatico (dramatic jest), Il mondo abbattuto by <a href="/facts/Nicola_Sabini/2yqhnv0J">Nicola Sabini</a> was particularly influential in Naples, creating a popular model due to its use of both Tuscan and Neapolitan dialects.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6">6</a>
In the early 18th century, comic operas often appeared as short, one-act interludes known as <a href="/facts/Intermezzo/LIk62MPz">intermezzi</a> that were performed in between acts of opera seria. There also existed, however, self-contained operatic comedies. <a href="/facts/La_serva_padrona/mFcXq4zx">La serva padrona</a> (1733) by <a href="/facts/Giovanni_Battista_Pergolesi/eJXlHemm">Giovanni Battista Pergolesi</a> (1710–1736), is the one intermezzo still performed with any regularity today, and provides an excellent example of the style. <a href="/facts/Lo_frate_%2527nnamorato/48doY77Y">Lo frate 'nnamorato</a> (1732) and <a href="/facts/Il_Flaminio/LXWQJD4m">Il Flaminio</a> (1735), by Pergolesi as well, are examples of the three-act commedia per musica.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7">7</a>
Apart from Pergolesi, the first major composers of opera buffa were <a href="/facts/Alessandro_Scarlatti/je4fBkBN">Alessandro Scarlatti</a> (<a href="/facts/Il_trionfo_dell%2527onore/cJGE00oE">Il trionfo dell'onore</a>, 1718), <a href="/facts/Nicola_Logroscino/N6UlnSL5">Nicola Logroscino</a> (Il governatore, 1747) and <a href="/facts/Baldassare_Galuppi/qECUd7GG">Baldassare Galuppi</a> (<a href="/facts/Il_filosofo_di_campagna/tw7xrQSa">Il filosofo di campagna</a>, 1754), all of them based in <a href="/facts/Naples/SXrFcg2C">Naples</a> or <a href="/facts/Venice/Xzc2uVDg">Venice</a>. The work of these was then resumed and expanded by <a href="/facts/Niccol%25C3%25B2_Piccinni/1tGg7vqw">Niccolò Piccinni</a> (<a href="/facts/La_buona_figliuola/6AU1NhP4">La Cecchina</a>, 1760), <a href="/facts/Giovanni_Paisiello/ReFIWSsk">Giovanni Paisiello</a> (<a href="/facts/Nina_(opera)/HnK1U9yI">Nina</a>, 1789) and <a href="/facts/Domenico_Cimarosa/tIhNNJo5">Domenico Cimarosa</a> (<a href="/facts/Il_matrimonio_segreto/bHGSmfLR">Il matrimonio segreto</a>, 1792). The genre declined in the mid-19th century, despite <a href="/facts/Giuseppe_Verdi/Etc74qFF">Giuseppe Verdi</a>'s <a href="/facts/Falstaff_(opera)/LcMdvGvy">Falstaff</a> staged in 1893.
The importance of opera buffa diminished during the <a href="/facts/Romantic_music/Smlk40jm">Romantic period</a>. 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 <a href="/facts/Gaetano_Donizetti/syovQv4D">Donizetti</a>'s <a href="/facts/Don_Pasquale/K1KhQuyS">Don Pasquale</a> 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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8">8</a>
The type of comedy could vary, and the range was great: from <a href="/facts/Gioachino_Rossini/sVKQoHhR">Rossini's</a> <a href="/facts/The_Barber_of_Seville/5XzCcFuu">The Barber of Seville</a> in 1816 which was purely comedic, to <a href="/facts/Mozart/2X5fm67T">Mozart</a>'s <a href="/facts/The_Marriage_of_Figaro/VF8h9XQl">The Marriage of Figaro</a> in 1786 which added drama and pathos. Another example of Romantic opera buffa would be Donizetti's <a href="/facts/L%2527elisir_d%2527amore/ugfchXG2">The Elixir of Love</a> of 1832.

<h2 id="relation-to-and-differences-from-opera-seria">Relation to and differences from opera seria</h2>
While <a href="/facts/Opera_seria/k1TQIr4h">opera seria</a> 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 <a href="/facts/Soprano/CeoEVKTQ">sopranos</a> and <a href="/facts/Castrati/1cygX6hJ">castrati</a>) 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 <a href="/facts/Castrato/1cygX6hJ">castrati</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9">9</a> This led to the creation of the characteristic "<a href="/facts/Basso_buffo/gmdDI2wM">basso buffo</a>", a specialist in <a href="/facts/Patter_song/E87PNu8G">patter</a> who was the center of most of the comic action. (A well-known basso buffo role is Leporello in <a href="/facts/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart/2X5fm67T">Mozart's</a> <a href="/facts/Don_Giovanni/KEYQX3bz">Don Giovanni</a>.)

<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul>
<li>Italy portal</li><li>Opera portal</li></ul>

<h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2>

<ul><li><a href="/facts/Cliff_Eisen/9SrN3Jqf">Eisen, Cliff</a>, et al. <a href="http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/40258pg3">"Mozart" in Grove Music Online</a>, Oxford Music Online sections 7–10. (subscription required)</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Donald_Jay_Grout/vSAbkI2a">Grout, Donald</a>, A Short History of Opera. New York, Columbia University Press, 1965.</li>
<li>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". <a href="/facts/Eighteenth-Century_Studies/f1xITAax">Eighteenth-Century Studies</a>, vol. 35, no. 1 (Fall 2001) pp. 160–162.)</li>
<li>Opera buffa. World Book Online Reference Center. 2008.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Roger_Parker/4WlKxLh5">Parker, Roger</a>, The Oxford illustrated History of Opera</li>
<li>Platoff, John (1992). "How Original Was Mozart? Evidence from "Opera Buffa"." <a href="/facts/Early_Music_(journal)/MC7wSCJX">Early Music</a>: vol. 20, no. 1. Oxford University Press, February 1992. pp. 105–117.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Piero_Weiss/ABsDWS98">Weiss, Piero</a>; <a href="/facts/Julian_Budden/EBWeE8a5">Budden, Julian</a> (2001). "Opera buffa (It.: 'comic opera')". <a href="/facts/The_New_Grove_Dictionary_of_Music_and_Musicians/hPUXTAum">Grove Music Online</a> (8th ed.). <a href="/facts/Oxford_University_Press/CYyTzzWG">Oxford University Press</a>. <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fgmo%2F9781561592630.article.43721">10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.43721</a>. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-1-56159-263-0.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/James_Webster_(musicologist)/PJ8yKLb2">Webster, James</a>; Hunter, Mary (1997). Opera Buffa in Mozart's Vienna. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England 1997. (reviewed in: Baker, Nicole. "Untitled". <a href="/facts/Notes_(journal)/BQedylRt">Notes</a>, second series, vol. 56, no. 1 (September 1999) pp. 138–140.)</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">Patrick J. Smith: The Tenth Muse (Schirmer 1970) p. 103. <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn: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. <a href="978-1-56159-263-0" target="_blank">978-1-56159-263-0</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">Le voyage de MM. Dunanan père et fils (Offenbach): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project <a href="https://imslp.org/wiki/Le_voyage_de_MM._Dunanan_p%C3%A8re_et_fils_(Offenbach,_Jacques)" target="_blank">https://imslp.org/wiki/Le_voyage_de_MM._Dunanan_p%C3%A8re_et_fils_(Offenbach,_Jacques)</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn: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). <a href="https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k81713/f1.image" target="_blank">https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k81713/f1.image</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:5">Patrick J. Smith: The Tenth Muse (Schirmer 1970) p. 103. <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:6">Jackman, James L. (2001). "Sabini [Sabino], 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. <a href="978-1-56159-263-0" target="_blank">978-1-56159-263-0</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:7">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. <a href="/wiki/Neapolitan_language" target="_blank">/wiki/Neapolitan_language</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:8">Fisher, Burton D. The Barber of Seville (Opera Classics Library Series). Grand Rapids: Opera Journeys, 2005. <a href="/wiki/The_Barber_of_Seville" target="_blank">/wiki/The_Barber_of_Seville</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:9">Warrack, John; West, Ewan (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, ISBN 0-19-869164-5[page needed] <a href="/wiki/Warrack,_John" target="_blank">/wiki/Warrack,_John</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

Opera buffa open-in-new

Opera buffa