''La buona figliuola'' (''The Good-Natured Girl'' or ''The Accomplish'd Maid''), or ''La Cecchina'' (The girl from

Cecchina Cecchina () is a town located approximately 30 km south-east of Rome in the Italian region of Lazio, in central Italy. Overview The town is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' (municipality) of Albano Laziale; it is part of the famous Castelli ...

), is an

opera buffa ''Opera buffa'' (; "comic opera", plural: ''opere buffe'') is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramm ...

in three acts by

Niccolò Piccinni Niccolò Piccinni (; 16 January 1728 – 7 May 1800) was an Italian composer of symphonies, sacred music, chamber music, and opera. Although he is somewhat obscure today, Piccinni was one of the most popular composers of opera—particularly the ...

. The

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

, by

Carlo Goldoni Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to: *Carlo (name) *Monte Carlo *Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia *A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince Char ...

, is based on

Samuel Richardson Samuel Richardson (baptised 19 August 1689 – 4 July 1761) was an English writer and printer known for three epistolary novels: ''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'' (1740), '' Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady'' (1748) and ''The History of ...

's novel ''

Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded ''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'' is an epistolary novel first published in 1740 by English writer Samuel Richardson. Considered one of the first true English novels, it serves as Richardson's version of conduct literature about marriage. ''Pam ...

''. This was Piccinni's most successful Italian opera. There was a sequel entitled ''La buona figliuola maritata'' (1761) by the same composer and librettist. ''La buona figliuola supposta vedova'' by

Gaetano Latilla __NOTOC__ Gaetano Latilla (12 January 1711 – 15 January 1788) was an Italian opera composer, the most important of the period immediately preceding Niccolò Piccinni (his nephew). Latilla was born in Bari, and studied at the Loreto Conservato ...

followed in 1766.

Performance history

It was first performed at the

Teatro delle Dame The Teatro delle Dame, also known as the Teatro Alibert (its original name), was a theatre in Rome built in 1718 and located on what is now the corner of Via D'Alibert and Via Margutta. In the course of its history it underwent a series of reconstr ...

, Rome, on 6 February 1760 with an all-male cast. It was given in London at the King's Theatre on 25 November 1766 with

Gaetano Guadagni Gaetano Guadagni (16 February 1728 – 11 November 1792) was an Italian mezzo-soprano castrato singer, most famous for singing the role of Orpheus at the premiere of Gluck's opera '' Orfeo ed Euridice'' in 1762. Career Born at Lodi, Guadagni ...

, Savi, Lovattini, Morigi, Quercioli, Piatti, and Michele; and at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

in English as ''The Accomplish'd Maid'' on 3 December 1766. It was revived as ''La Cecchina'' (with alterations) on 7 February 1928 in

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

(the composer's native city), as part of a celebration of the bicentenary of Piccinni's birth.Loewenberg 1978, columns 243–245. This opera is said to have been performed by

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

in China in 1778, namely at the court of the

Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, born Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1735 t ...

Roles

Synopsis

The marquis of Conchiglia has fallen in love with Cecchina, who is a maid. Shocked by the social impropriety of such a match, Cavaliere Armidoro, the fiancé of the marquis's sister, refuses to marry Lucinda. Distraught over losing the man she loves, Lucinda begs the marquis to stop seeing Cecchina. Meanwhile, Cecchina has several problems of her own, including Mengotto, a poor man who is infatuated with her and won't leave her alone, and Sandrina and Paoluccia, two jealous maids who try to cause as much trouble for Cecchina as they can. After many plot twists, the opera ends well when Tagliaferro, a German soldier, reveals that Cecchina is in fact the daughter of a German baron, which enables Cecchina to marry the Marchese without upsetting Armidoro.

Recordings

Piccinni: ''La Cecchina, ossia La buona figliuola'' – Orchestra Serenissima Pro Arte *Conductor: Bruno Campanella *Principal singers: Alessandra Ruffini, Bruno Pratico, Maria Angeles Peters, Gabriella Morigi, Giuseppe Morino *Recording date: 8 January 2002 *Label: Nuova Era 7123/25 (3 cd) Piccinni: ''La buona figliola'' – Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma *Conductor: Gianluigi Gelmetti *Principal singers: Lucia Aliberti, Enzo Dara, Margherita Rinaldi, Emilia Raviglia,

Ugo Benelli Ugo Benelli (born 20 January 1935) is an Italian operatic tenor. Born in Genoa and trained at La Scala, Benelli had an international career singing leading ''tenore di grazia'' roles from the early 1960s through the 1980s. In his later years he sa ...

*Recording date: 4 February 1981 *Label: Fonit Cetra CDC 95 (2 cd) Piccinni: ''La Cecchina, ossia La buona figliuola'' – La Lyra di Anfione *Conductor: Vito Paternoster *Principal singers: Serena Farnocchia, Graziella Merrino, Danilo Formaggia, Eun Young Oh, Larissa Schmidt, Eugenia Pont-Burgoyne, Piero Terranova, Davude Pelissero *Recording date: 25 September 2001 *Label: Bongiovanni GB 2293/94-2 (2 cd)

References

Notes Sources * * *Hunter, Mary (1992). "''Buona figliuola, La''" in Sadie 1992, vol. 1, pp. 640–642. *Hunter, Mary (2001). "Piccinni: (1) Niccolò Piccinni. Works" (with James L. Jackman, Marita P. McClymonds, David Charlton) in Sadie 2001. *Loewenberg, Alfred (1978). ''Annals of Opera 1597–1940'' (third edition, revised). Totowa, New Jersey: Rowman and Littlefield. . *

Rushton, Julian Julian Gordon Rushton (born 22 May 1941) is an English musicologist, born in Cambridge. He has contributed the entry on Mozart in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' and several other articles in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians' ...

(2001). "Niccolò Piccinni", pp. 673–676, in ''The New Penguin Opera Guide'', edited by

Amanda Holden Amanda Louise Holden (born 16 February 1971) is an English actress, media personality, and singer. Since 2007, she has been a judge on the television talent show competition ''Britain's Got Talent'' on ITV. She also co-hosts the ''Heart Brea ...

. New York: Penguin Putnam. . *

Sadie, Stanley Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was publ ...

, editor (1992). ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...

'' (4 volumes). London: Macmillan. . *Sadie, Stanley, editor (2001). ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

'', 2nd edition. London: Macmillan. (hardcover), (eBook), and

Grove Music Online ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

. *

Warrack, John John Hamilton Warrack (born 1928, in London) is an English music critic, writer on music, and oboist. Warrack is the son of Scottish conductor and composer Guy Warrack. He was educated at Winchester College (1941-6) and then at the Royal College o ...

; West, Ewan (1992). ''The Oxford Dictionary of Opera'' New York: Oxford University Press. .

External links

* * , performance by Northwestern University School of Music, 30 March 2007
1760 libretto for Bergamo
(Libretti der Musikgeschichtlichen Bibliothek des Deutschen Historischen Instituts in Rom) {{DEFAULTSORT:Buona figliuola, La Italian-language operas Operas Operas by Niccolò Piccinni Libretti by Carlo Goldoni Operas based on novels Opera buffa 1760 operas