Pacini (1796-1867) is principally known by his
'Saffo,' an imitation of Rossini, which achieved a great success. Vaccai
(1790-1848) also imitated Rossini, but his 'Giulietta e Romeo' has
intrinsic merits, which are not to be despised.
After the days of Rossini, opera buffa fell upon evil days. Although the
most famous musicians of the day did not disdain occasionally to follow
in the footsteps of Cimarosa, for the most part the task of purveying
light operas for the smaller theatres of Italy fell into the hands of
second and third rate composers. Donizetti, as we have seen, enriched
the repertory of opera buffa with several masterpieces of gay and
brilliant vivacity, but few of the lighter works of his contemporaries
deserve permanent record.
The brothers Ricci, Luigi (1805-1859) and Federico (1809-1877), wrote
many operas, both singly and in collaboration, but 'Crispino e la
Comare' is the only one of their works which won anything like a
European reputation. The story is a happy combination of farce and
_feerie_. Crispino, a half-starved cobbler, is about to throw himself
into a well, when La Comare, a fairy, rises from it and bids him
desist. She gives him a purse of gold, and orders him to set up as a
doctor, telling him that when he goes to visit a patient he must look to
see whether she is standing by the bedside. If she is not there, the
sick man will recover.
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