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Operas
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La gazzetta, ossia Il matrimonio per concorso (The Newspaper, or The Marriage Contest) is an opera buffa by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was by Giuseppe Palomba after Carlo Goldoni's play Il matrimonio per concorso of 1763.
The opera satirizes the influence of newspapers on people's lives. It was a great success in its time. As was his wont, Rossini borrowed melodic fragments from some of his previous works, Il Turco in Italia being the largest contributor. The overture is probably the best known piece from the opera, because, along with other music from La gazzetta, it was incorporated into La Cenerentola.
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Performance history
The opera was first performed on 26 September 1816 at the Teatro dei Fiorentini in Naples.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, September 26, 1816 (Conductor: - ) |
|---|---|---|
| Don Pomponio | bass | Carlo Casaccia |
| Lisetta, his daughter | soprano | Margherita Chambrend |
| Filippo, an innkeeper, in love with Lisetta | baritone | Felice Pellegrini |
| Alberto, a wealthy young man | tenor | Alberigo Curioni |
| Doralice, in search of a husband | soprano | Francesca Cardini |
| Anselmo, her father | bass | Giovanni Pace |
| Madama La Rose | mezzo-soprano | Maria Manzi |
| Monsù Traversen, an old roué | bass | Francesco Sparano |
Synopsis
The plot surrounds the story of a pretentious Neapolitan, Don Pomponio Storione, who travels the world in search of a husband for his daughter, putting ads in the newspapers. He arrives in a city, and after a series of ridiculously inadequate pretendants, such as the Quaker Monsù Traversen or the waiter at the hotel who usually end up beating poor Pomponio, he finally resigns to let his daughter marry her lover, the only pretendant he seems to consider inappropriate.
Sources
- Gazzetta, La by Richard Osborne, in 'The New Grove Dictionary of Opera', ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992) ISBN 0-333-73432-7
- Il Turco in Italia, Recorded by Philips (1991), Ambrosian Opera Chorus, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, conducted by Sir Neville Marriner, Booklet essay by Philip Gossett
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