The Duenna is a three-act comic opera, mostly composed by Thomas Linley the elder and his son, Thomas Linley the younger, to an English-language libretto by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. At the time, it was considered one of the most successful operas ever staged in England, and its admirers included Samuel Johnson, William Hazlitt and George Byron.
Richard Brinsley Sheridan, the librettist
A portrait of Thomas Linley the elder
Illustration for the song Had I a heart for falsehood fram'd
The actress Mrs Harlowe as The Duenna, depicted by George Cruikshank in an engraving published 1823.
Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue.
Rossini, circa 1810–1815
Poster for a 19th-century production of Orpheus in the Underworld
Scene from H.M.S. Pinafore, 1886 Savoy Theatre souvenir programme
A "toy soldier" from Babes in Toyland, 1903