La serva padrona
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La serva padrona is a 1733 intermezzo by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi to a libretto by Gennaro Federico, after the play by Jacopo Angello Nelli. It is some 40 minutes long, in two parts without overtur
Title page of a vintage opera program
Catherine Nelidova as Serpina (by Dmitry Levitzky, 1773)
Opera buffa
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Opera buffa 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,
La serva padrona
…stand-alone work. Audiences found it appealing for its relatable characters: wily maid versus aging master. More significantly it became a model for the opera buffa genre and a quintessential piece bridging the Baroque and the Classical periods. With a new finale its French version provided the catalyst for the…
L'elisir d'amore, 1832 opera buffa
Alessandro Scarlatti, one of the first major composers of opera buffa