Editing Opera buffa (section)

{{Short description|Italian opera genre associated with humor}}
{{Distinguish|Opéra bouffe}}
{{Redirect|Buffa|the surname|Buffa (surname)}}
[[File:L'elisir d'amore 10 2013.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|''[[L'elisir d'amore]]'', 1832 opera buffa]]
'''Opera buffa''' ({{IPA|it|ˈɔːpera ˈbuffa|lang}}, "comic opera"; {{plural form}}: ''opere buffe'') is a genre of [[opera]]. It was first used as an informal description of Italian [[comic opera]]s variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramma bernesco'', ''dramma comico'', ''divertimento giocoso''.

Especially associated with developments in [[Naples]] in the first half of the 18th century, whence its popularity spread to [[Rome]] and [[northern Italy]], ''buffa'' was at first characterized by everyday settings, local dialects, and simple vocal writing (the [[basso buffo]] is the associated voice type), the main requirement being clear diction and facility with [[patter song|patter]].

''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Opera]]'' considers ''La Cilla'' (music by [[Michelangelo Faggioli]], text by {{ill|Francesco Antonio Tullio|it}}, 1706) and [[Luigi Ricci (composer)|Luigi]] and [[Federico Ricci]]'s'' [[Crispino e la comare]]'' (1850) to be the first and last appearances of the genre, although the term is still occasionally applied to newer work (for example [[Ernst Krenek]]'s ''[[Zeitoper]]'' ''[[Schwergewicht]]''). High points in this history are the 80 or so libretti by Carlindo Grolo, Loran Glodici, Sogol Cardoni<ref name =tenth>Patrick J. Smith: ''The Tenth Muse'' (Schirmer 1970) p. 103.</ref> and various other approximate [[anagram]]s of [[Carlo Goldoni]], the three [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]/[[Lorenzo Da Ponte|Da Ponte]] collaborations, and the comedies of [[Gioachino Rossini]] and [[Gaetano Donizetti]].

Similar foreign genres such as French ''[[opéra comique]]'', English ''[[ballad opera]]'', Spanish ''[[zarzuela]]'' or German ''[[Singspiel]]'' differed as well in having spoken dialogue in place of ''[[recitativo]] secco'', although one of the most influential examples, [[Giovanni Battista Pergolesi|Pergolesi]]'s {{Lang|it|[[La serva padrona]]}} (which is an [[intermezzo]], not opera buffa), sparked the ''[[querelle des bouffons]]'' in Paris as an adaptation without sung [[recitative]]s.