Opera buffa is a type of opera with a light or humorous theme and a happy ending, originating in Italy in the 18th century. It does not include spoken parts and features dry recitative. It developed from interludes in opera seria and became a separate genre with performances typically two acts long. It was intended for the common man and used lower male voices, culminating in the basso buffo. Italian opera buffa declined in the late 19th century.
An opera buffa, also called opera buffa or light opera, is an opera with a light or humorous theme, typically with a happy ending. It is distinguished from opera seria, or opera of a serious nature. An example of an opera buffa is La Nozze di Figaro, or The Marriage of Figaro, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Some of the leading composers of his early years were Baldassare Galuppi, Nicola Logroscino, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi and Alessandro Scarlatti, all based in Naples or Venice.
The term opera buffa originated in Italy in the 18th century, although opere buffe had existed for about a hundred years earlier. While there are comic operas in many traditions, including French comic opera and German singspiel, the term usually refers only to 18th- and 19th-century Italian opera buffa. One of the differences between Italian opera buffa and its counterparts in other traditions is that the Italian variety does not include spoken parts, only dry recitative, a type of singing using the rhythms of natural speech and accompanied by minimal instrumentation.
Before opera buffa emerged as a genre in its own right in the 18th century, many productions of opera seria included scenes of comic relief, often involving servants. These developed into interludes, one-act comic operas performed between acts of an opera seria. The interludes were often farcical in nature and included the stock characters of the commedia dell’arte.
Though brief, the interludes were often substantial works, and some became more popular than the works themselves. This popularity led to the development of opera buffa as a genre in its own right. By the 1730s, Italian opera buffa had spread from its origin in Naples to France and beyond, through Rome and northern Italy.
As Italian opera buffa developed into a separate genre, performances were typically two acts long, as opposed to the three acts of an opera seria. While opera seria often deals with literary or mythological subjects set in a historical era, opera buffa typically features a contemporary setting and vernacular language, sometimes even employing foreign dialects or accents. It was intended to appeal more to the common man, while serious opera was considered entertainment for nobles and royalty. The leading roles in many opera seria pieces were written for castrati, or male sopranos, while opera buffa used lower male voices, culminating in the very low basso buffo. Italian opera buffa declined in the late 19th century, although some 20th-century operas are characterized as opera buffa by their composers.
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