Farsa

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, especially in Venice and Naples, a farsa - a farce or farce - was the name given to the mostly one-act, and more rarely two-act opera buffa, which was predominantly erotic and even lascivious. But there were also those with a serious or touching action (farsa sentimentale, farsa lagrimosa).

Well-known pieces

The German composer Johann Simon Mayr was a master of farsa ; He wrote L'intrigo della lettera (1797), L'avaro (1799), Il carretto del venditore d'aceto and La locandiera (both 1800), L'amor coniugale (1805), I virtuosi or L'amor ingegnoso . The five farse that the young Gioachino Rossini wrote between 1810 and 1813 are particularly well-known : La cambiale di matrimonio , L'inganno felice , La scala di seta , Il signor Bruschino and L'occasione fa il ladro . A late farsa is Gaetano Donizetti's originally one-act opera Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali from 1827 - better known in German-speaking countries under the title Viva la Mamma! The farsa was a stage form with which even young composers could earn their first merits without exposing themselves and the theater promoter to too great a risk. Because a farsa could be realized without major fuss: There were only a few vocal parts (and no choir), a single stage set that could be used unchanged for almost all of these pieces, and a minimally staffed orchestra.

Librettists

The most important librettists for farsen were the Venetian Giuseppe Maria Foppa and the Veronese Gaetano Rossi . Her libretti were set to music by Giuseppe Farinelli , Pietro Generali , Johann Simon Mayr , Giuseppe Mosca , Gioachino Rossini and Vittorio Trento .