Observations on Opera Buffa

            “Opera Buffa” is defined on the online encyclopedia as “a comic opera originating in Naples in the mid-18^th century.” The short paragraph goes on to describe that it originated in Intermezzi which were performed between acts of serious opera.  I imagine that this could be akin to individuals watching television and flipping through the channels during the commercials in order to keep seeing something entertaining. The origins of “Opera Buffa” being in the intermezzi allowed for set and/or costume changes (an arduous task in those days) to be done while the audience was still being entertained.  Of course, the author of chapter 3 in the Oxford text goes into a far greater detail of discussion on this topic such as economic and political considerations for comic opera. 

            Thomas Bauman writes on the nobility’s support for comic opera laying in their ability to laugh at the buffoonery of the lower classes thereby validating their own state in Italian caste system whereas the commoners appreciated seeing members of their own social class represented on stage.  My first thought of a parallel to this would have been in America’s shameful tradition of blackface minstrelsy where slaves and former slaves were depicted in idiotic and derogatory ways. “Opera Buffa” was not so offensive, although many of the servant characters were shown in comic roles that often would display someone of a lower intelligence; they were still genuine characters on stage with genuine concerns even though the context was essentially built on class stereotypes.

            Another dimension to Buffa lay in sheer economics. As it is today, those involved in the production of art, impresarios (the equivalent of film-producers or production managers in our modern world) were keenly aware of the cost of a production versus its income potential. Mr. Bauman notes that due to the fact Buffa was less expensive than Seria to produce, the profit that could be realized from such productions offered great incentive. Another byproduct of this was that ticket prices were able to be lowered which allowed members of lower social classes to afford tickets. The reasons for lower production costs were the simplicity of the set, costumes and lack of machines which had become such a hallmark of the fantastical Opera Seria.

            I would like to discuss one thing in periphery, which is the validation of regional languages. Italian ruled for so long as the language of the Opera, but for comedy there is necessity of immediate intelligibility. If we consider that a joke is being told between two individuals, the humor would be lost were it needed to be translated into the receiver’s host language. Opera Buffa created an engine for the production (or more commonly translation) in the languages of German, Russian, Spanish and English.