Editing Opera buffa (section)

==Relation to and differences from ''opera seria''==
While ''[[opera seria]]'' deals with gods and ancient heroes and only occasionally contained comic scenes, opera buffa involves the predominant use of comic scenes, characters, and plot lines in a contemporary setting. The traditional model for ''opera seria'' had three acts, dealt with serious subjects in mythical settings, as stated above, and used high voices (both [[soprano]]s and [[castrati]]) for principal characters, often even for monarchs.

In contrast, the model that generally held for opera buffa was having two acts (as, for example, ''The Barber of Seville''), presenting comic scenes and situations as earlier stated and using the lower male voices to the exclusion of the [[castrato|castrati]].<ref>[[Warrack, John]]; West, Ewan (1992), ''The Oxford Dictionary of Opera'', {{ISBN|0-19-869164-5}}{{page needed|date=August 2023}}</ref> This led to the creation of the characteristic "[[basso buffo]]", a specialist in [[Patter song|patter]] who was the center of most of the comic action. (A well-known basso buffo role is Leporello in [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart's]] ''[[Don Giovanni]]''.)