OPERAWISE: OPERA BUFFA

In this series of podcasts, Seattle Opera Dramaturg Jonathan Dean gives listeners a taste of nine different types of traditional opera. Opera buffa, the beloved old Italian tradition of opera comedy, is what you get by adding music to the even older Italian tradition of improvised (artisanal) comedy, commedia dell’arte. The fools and buffoons of commedia—the sassy wenches, befuddled old professors, suicidal young lovers, dirty old misers, hungry Harlequins, arrogant soldiers, zany servants, and all the rest—found new ways of entertaining us once they began singing gloriously. And with the opera orchestra functioning as a laugh track and adding jokes of its own, opera buffa continues to disarm us and charm us while putting a big grin on our faces. The Barber of Seville and The Elixir of Love are great examples of the genre.

Musical examples on this podcast include:

• •Buffo duet from La Cenerentola, 2013, Brett Polegato, Patrick Carfizzi, and the orchestra of Seattle Opera conducted by Giacomo Sagripanti
• •Duet from La serva padrona, Katalin Farkas, Jozsef Gregor, and Capella Savaria conducted by Pal Nemeth (Hungaroton 1986)
• •“Largo al factotum” from The Barber of Seville, 2011, José Carbo and the orchestra of Seattle Opera conducted by Dean Williamson
• •End of Act 1 of Falstaff, Luigi Alva, soloists, and the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Herbert von Karajan (Columbia 1956)
• •End of Act 2 of The Marriage of Figaro, Seattle Opera cast and orchestra conducted by Gary Thor Wedow, 2016
• •“Shaving Scene” from The Barber of Seville, 2011, José Carbo, Patrick Carfizzi, and the orchestra of Seattle Opera conducted by Dean Williamson
• •End of Act 2 of The Marriage of Figaro, Nicolas Cavallier, Barry Johnson, cast, and the orchestra of Seattle Opera conducted by Dean Williamson, 2009
• •Magnet trill from Così fan tutte, forces of Seattle Opera conducted by Andreas Mitisek, 2006
• •“Pace e gioia” from The Barber of Seville, Lawrence Brownlee, Patrick Carfizzi, and the orchestra of Seattle Opera, conducted by Dean Williamson, 2011
• •End of Gianni Schicchi, conducted by Antonio Pappano (EMI 1998)
• •End of The Barber of Seville, Lawrence Brownlee, cast, and the orchestra of Seattle Opera, conducted by Dean Williamson, 2011
• •"Una tenera occhiatina” from L’elisir d’amore, Ileana Cotrubas, Geraint Evans, and the orchestra of Covent Garden conducted by John Pritchard (Columbia 1977)

Stay tuned for another podcast introducing another kind of opera next week!