''La serva padrona'', or ''The Maid Turned Mistress'', is a 1733

intermezzo In music, an intermezzo (, , plural form: intermezzi), in the most general sense, is a composition which fits between other musical or dramatic entities, such as acts of a play or movements of a larger musical work. In music history, the term ha ...

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi Giovanni Battista Draghi (; 4 January 1710 – 16 or 17 March 1736), often referred to as Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (), was an Italian Baroque composer, violinist, and organist. His best-known works include his Stabat Mater and the opera ''L ...

(1710–1736) to a

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 Gennaro Federico, after the

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

by Jacopo Angello Nelli. It is some 40 minutes long, in two parts without overture, and was written as light-hearted staged entertainment between the acts of Pergolesi's serious opera ''

Il prigionier superbo ''Il prigionier superbo'' (English: ''The Proud Prisoner'') is an '' opera seria'' in three acts, composed by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi to a libretto attributed to Gennaro Antonio Federico, and based on an earlier libretto by for Gasparini' ...

''. More specifically each of the two parts, set in the same dressing room, played during an intermission of the three-act opera to amuse people who remained in their seats. Federico's libretto was also set by

Giovanni Paisiello Giovanni Paisiello (or Paesiello; 9 May 1740 – 5 June 1816) was an Italian composer of the Classical era, and was the most popular opera composer of the late 1700s. His operatic style influenced Mozart and Rossini. Life Paisiello was born in T ...

, in 1781.

Performance history

''La serva padrona'' and the

opera seria ''Opera seria'' (; plural: ''opere serie''; usually called ''dramma per musica'' or ''melodramma serio'') is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to abo ...

it punctuates were premiered at the

Teatro San Bartolomeo Theatres for diverse musical and dramatic presentations began to open in Naples, Italy, in the mid-16th century as part of the general Spanish cultural and political expansion into the kingdom of Naples, which had just become a vicerealm of Spain. ...

on 5 September 1733, the first performances there after an earthquake the previous year in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

had closed all theatres. Both were written for the birthday of

Holy Roman Empress The Holy Roman Empress or Empress of the Holy Roman Empire (''Kaiserin des Heiligen Römischen Reiches'') was the wife or widow of the Holy Roman Emperor. The elective dignity of Holy Roman emperor was restricted to males only, but some empresse ...

Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (28 August 1691 – 21 December 1750) was Princess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Holy Roman Empress, German Queen, Queen of Bohemia and Hungary; and Archduchess of Austria by her marriage to Empe ...

a few days earlier. ''Il prigioniero superbo'' was unsuccessful in its day but has been staged in the composer's home town of Jesi several times and recorded there in 1997, 1998 and 2009, being filmed during the latter year. But ''La serva padrona'' was an immediate hit and became its own stand-alone work. Audiences found it appealing for its relatable characters: wily maid versus aging master. More significantly it became a model for the

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 ...

genre and a quintessential piece bridging the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

and the Classical periods. With a new finale its French version provided the catalyst for the infamous

Querelle des Bouffons The ("Quarrel of the Comic Actors"), also known as the ("War of the Comic Actors"), was the name given to a battle of musical philosophies that took place in Paris between 1752 and 1754. The controversy concerned the relative merits of French a ...

Roles

Synopsis

Ekaterina Ivanovna Nelidova by Dmitry Levitzky 001

Part Part, parts or PART may refer to: People *Armi Pärt (born 1991), Estonian handballer * Arvo Pärt (born 1935), Estonian classical composer *Brian Part (born 1962), American child actor *Dealtry Charles Part (1882–1961), sheriff (1926–1927) a ...

1 – dressing room'' Uberto, an elderly bachelor, is angry and impatient with his maidservant, Serpina, because she has not brought him his

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

today. Serpina has become so arrogant that she thinks she is the mistress of the household. Indeed, when Uberto calls for his hat, wig and coat, Serpina forbids him from leaving the house, adding that from then on he will have to obey her orders. Uberto thereupon orders Vespone to find him a woman to marry so that he can rid himself of Serpina. ''Part 2 – same dressing room'' Serpina convinces Vespone to trick Uberto into marrying her. She informs Uberto that she is to marry a military man named Tempesta. She will be leaving his home and apologizes for her behavior. Vespone, disguised as Tempesta, arrives and, without saying a word, demands 4,000 crowns for a

dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment b ...

. Uberto refuses to pay such a sum. Tempesta threatens him to either pay the dowry or marry the girl himself. Uberto agrees to marry Serpina. Serpina and Vespone reveal their trick; but Uberto realizes that he has loved the girl all along. They will marry after all; and Serpina will now be the true mistress of the household.

Musical numbers

;Part 1 *Aria: ''Aspettare e non venire'' (Uberto) *Recitativo: ''Quest'è per me disgrazia'' (Uberto, Serpina) *Aria: ''Sempre in contrasti'' (Uberto) *Recitativo: ''In somma delle somme'' (Serpina, Uberto) *Aria: ''Stizzoso, mio stizzoso'' (Serpina) *Recitativo: ''Benissimo. Hai tu inteso?'' (Uberto, Serpina) *Duetto: ''Lo conosco a quegli occhietti'' (Serpina, Uberto) ;Part 2 *Recitativo: ''Or che fatto ti sei'' (Serpina, Uberto) *Aria: ''A Serpina penserete'' (Serpina) *Recitativo: ''Ah! quanto mi sa male'' (Uberto, Serpina) *Aria: ''Son imbrogliato io già'' (Uberto) *Recitativo: ''Favorisca, signor, passi'' (Serpina, Uberto) *Duetto finale (†): ''Contento tu sarai'' (Serpina, Uberto) (†It later became customary to replace this final duet with another: ''Per te ho io nel core''. This the composer wrote two years later, in 1735, for his ''commedia per musica'', ''

Il Flaminio ''Il Flaminio'' is a 1735 opera buffa by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi to a Neapolitan libretto by Gennaro Antonio Federico, first performed at the Teatro Nuovo, Naples. Untypically in Pergolesi's difficult and short career the opera was an immedi ...

''.)

Scores

The scores of the opera vary. Edwin F. Kalmus has one with massive omissions, wrong notes, and much spoken dialogue.

Boosey & Hawkes Boosey & Hawkes is a British music publisher purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass, string and woodwind musical instruments. Formed in 1930 throu ...

has the score in an

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

adaptation by

Seymour Barab Seymour Barab (January 9, 1921 – June 28, 2014) was an American composer of opera, songs and instrumental and chamber music, as well as a cellist, organist and pianist. He was best known for his fairy tale operas for young audiences, such as ' ...

, with highly simplified accompaniment and much spoken dialogue.

Casa Ricordi Casa Ricordi is a publisher of primarily classical music and opera. Its classical repertoire represents one of the important sources in the world through its publishing of the work of the major 19th-century Italian composers such as Gioachino Ro ...

presents the opera as sung through; it is the version most used. W. W. Norton & Company includes excerpts of the full score (for strings and continuo) that have numerous melodic differences from the Ricordi edition but correlate with the recording with

Siegmund Nimsgern Siegmund Nimsgern (born 14 January 1940) is a German bass-baritone, born in Sankt Wendel, Saarland, Germany. After leaving school in 1960 he studied singing and musical education at the Hochschule für Musik Saar with Sibylle Fuchs, Jakob St� ...

Recordings and films

*Simonetto/Tuccari/

Sesto Bruscantini Sesto Bruscantini (10 December 1919 – 4 May 2003) was an Italian baritone, one of the greatest buffo singers of the post-war era, especially renowned in Mozart and Rossini. Biography and career Bruscantini was born in Civitanova Marche, Marche, ...

, live in Capri, 1948, Cetra *Pedrollo/Erato/Bacci, 1949, Polydor Vox *

Carlo Maria Giulini Carlo Maria Giulini (; 9 May 1914 – 14 June 2005) was an Italian conductor. From the age of five, when he began to play the violin, Giulini's musical education was expanded when he began to study at Italy's foremost conservatory, the Conserva ...

/Carteri/

Nicola Rossi-Lemeni Nicola Rossi-LemeniHis father's last name was Rossi, but his mother wanted her family name added, "Rossi Lemeni" (without a hyphen). However, many publications and recordings hyphenate the name. (November 6, 1920 – March 12, 1991), was a ...

, 1955, Columbia *

Ferdinand Leitner Ferdinand Leitner (4 March 1912 in Berlin – 3 June 1996 in Zürich) was a German conductor. Leitner studied under Franz Schreker, Julius Prüwer, Artur Schnabel and Karl Muck. He also was a composition student with Robert Kahn. Starting as ...

/Mazzoleni/Cortis, 1955, Archiv *Serra-G/Colorni/Rovetta, 1956, RCA *FILM: Ferrara/

Anna Moffo Anna Moffo (June 27, 1932 – March 9, 2006) was an American opera singer, television personality, and actress. One of the leading lyric- coloratura sopranos of her generation, she possessed a warm and radiant voice of considerable range and agil ...

/ Paolo Montarsolo, 1958

Mario Lanfranchi Mario Lanfranchi (30 June 1927 – 3 January 2022) was an Italian film, theatre, and television director, screenwriter, producer, collector, and actor. Career Lanfranchi was born in Parma. After receiving a degree at the Drama Academy ( Accad ...

movie, View Video (label) *

Virginia Zeani Virginia Zeani (born Virginia Zehan; 21 October 1925), Commendatore OMRI is a Romanian-born opera singer who sang leading soprano roles in the opera houses of Europe and North America. As a singer, she was known for her dramatic intensity and ...

opposite her husband Rossi-Lemeni conducted by Singer, 1959, Vox *

Renata Scotto Renata Scotto (born 24 February 1934) is an Italian soprano and opera director. Recognized for her sense of style, her musicality, and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered one of the preeminent singers of her generation. Since r ...

and Bruscantini conducted by Fasano, 1960, Ricordi *

Mariella Adani Mariella Adani (born December 17, 1934) is an Italian classical soprano who had an active career in operas, concerts, and recitals from the 1950s through the 1980s. She has sung under the musical direction of Vittorio Gui, Carlo Maria Giulini, ...

and Leonardi Monreale, Pomeriggi Musicali del Teatro Nuovo di Milano, Ettore Gracis conducting, 1960, Club Français du Disque; later

Nonesuch Records Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly called Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, Non ...

H-71043 *Bugeanu/Petrescu-Cironeanu/Rintzler, 1961,

Electrecord Electrecord is a Romanian record label which was founded in 1932. It was subsequently transformed into the national recording company following the socialist doctrine of centralization and was the only record label in Communist Romania. History ...

*FILM: Australian TV movie with

June Bronhill June Mary Bronhill (26 June 192924 January 2005), also known as June Gough, was an Australian coloratura soprano opera singer, performer and actress, She was well known for light opera, operetta and musical theatre in London West End theatr ...

, 1962 *Maier/Bonifaccio/

and the

Collegium Aureum Collegium Aureum was a chamber orchestra founded in Cologne, Germany, in 1962, which later focused on historically informed performance. Playing typically without conductor, they recorded for three decades, and performed concerts on international ...

, 1969,

BASF BASF Societas Europaea, SE () is a German multinational corporation, multinational chemical company and the List of largest chemical producers, largest chemical producer in the world. Its headquarters is located in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The ...

; later Deutsche Harmonia Mundi *Koch-H/Miljaković/Süß, 1970,

Telefunken Telefunken was a German radio and television apparatus company, founded in Berlin in 1903, as a joint venture of Siemens & Halske and the ''Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft'' (AEG) ('General electricity company'). The name "Telefunken" app ...

*Ros Marbà/Carmen Bustamante/

Renato Capecchi Renato Capecchi (born Cairo, November 6, 1923; died Milan, June 30, 1998) was an Italian baritone, actor, and opera director. He sang in the Italian premiere of Shostakovich's '' The Nose'' and Prokofiev's ''War and Peace'', and in the world pr ...

, 1973, Ensayo *

Alberto Zedda Alberto Zedda (2 January 19286 March 2017) was an Italian conductor and musicologist whose specialty was the 19th-century Italian repertoire. Alberto Zedda was born in Milan, Italy, where he accomplished his education in music and humanities, com ...

/Celine/Bruscantini, 1974, Vedette Quadrifoglio *Gordana Minov-Jevtović and Nikola Mitić, 1976, PGP RTB *Németh/Katalin Farkas/ József Gregor and the Capella Savaria, 1985,

Hungaroton Hungaroton is the oldest record and music publisher company in Hungary. Hungaroton was founded in 1951, when its only competitors in the Hungarian music market were record labels like Melodiya, Supraphon and from other socialist countries. Pre ...

*Palmer-R/

Julianne Baird Julianne Baird (born December 10, 1952) is an American soprano best known for her singing in Baroque works, in both opera and sacred music. She has nearly 100 recordings to her credit and is a well-traveled recitalist and soloist with major sym ...

/John Ostendorf, 1989, Omega *Hirsch/Bima/Salomaa, live in Waldkirch, 1990, Arts (label) *Mason/Bunning/Donnelly, 1992,

Meridian Records Meridian Records is a British independent record label based in London. Having been founded in 1977, Meridian has celebrated more than a third of a century of recording classical music in its well regarded 'natural sound'. Meridian has tradit ...

*Bezzina/

Isabelle Poulenard Isabelle Poulenard (born 5 July 1961) is French contemporary soprano. Poulenard was born in Paris. Her work has generally been focused on music of the French Baroque, however, she has performed and recorded George Frideric Handel and Georg P ...

/Cantor, 1995,

Pierre Verany Disques Pierre Verany is a French classical music record label named after its founder and producer. Verany, a producer and sound engineer, ran his own label "Disques Pierre Verany" for many years — concentrating on Italian and French baroque m ...

*FILM:

Sigiswald Kuijken Sigiswald Kuijken (; born 16 February 1944) is a Belgian violinist, violist, and conductor known for playing on period and original instruments. Biography Kuijken was born in Dilbeek, near Brussels. He was a member of the Alarius Ensemble of ...

/Patricia Biccirè/Donato di Stefano and

La Petite Bande La Petite Bande is a Belgium-based ensemble specialising in music of the Baroque and Classical eras played on period instruments. They are particularly known for their recordings of works by Corelli, Rameau, Handel, Bach, Haydn, and Mozart. Hi ...

, live in Brussels, 1996, Accent ACC 96123 D and TDK DVD *FILM: Magnani/Sylvia Klein/José Carlos Leal, 1997

Carla Camurati Carla Camurati (born October 14, 1960) is a Brazilian actress and filmmaker. She became notorious for acting in several Rede Globo telenovelas in the 1980s. She also acted on children's theater, starred in films—including '' Eternamente Pagú'' ...

movie, Elimar Produções Artisticas, Brazil *Marcello Panni/Scano/de Simone, live in Jesi, 1997, Bongiovanni *

Gustav Kuhn Gustav Kuhn (born 28 August 1945) is an Austrian conductor and manager, also a composer, and a teacher and author. During his international conducting career, he founded the later "Accademia di Montegral" for young musicians and singers in 1987, ...

/Antonucci-P/di Stefano-D, live in Jesi, 1998, Arte Nova *Clemente/Cozzoli/Govi, live in Bitonto, 1999, Kicco Classics *Dallara/Zanello/Govi, 2006,

Tactus Records Tactus Records (Italian Casa Discografica Tactus) is an Italian classical music recording label based in Bologna, Italy. It was founded in 1986 by a local businessman Serafino Rossi (1927-3 December 2009). The Province of Bologna held a concert i ...

*FILM:

Diego Fasolis Diego Fasolis (born 19 April 1958) is a Swiss classical organist and conductor, the leader of the ensemble I Barocchisti. He has conducted operas in historically informed performance at major European opera houses and festivals, and has made award- ...

Sonya Yoncheva Sonya Yoncheva ( bg, Соня Йончева; born 25 December 1981) is a Bulgarian operatic soprano. Early life Yoncheva was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. From the age of 6, she was "working", according to her own words from an interview for ''Metr ...

/Furio Zanasi, 2008 Swiss TV movie *Deliso/Zyatkova/Torriani, 2011, Da Vinci *FILM: Rovaris/Marianelli/Lepore, filmed in Jesi, 2011,

Arthaus White Wolf Publishing was an American roleplaying game and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion Rampant (game publisher), Lion Rampant

*Scogna/Nisi/Benetti, 2013,

*Scogna/Liuzzi/di Gioia, 2017,

Brilliant Classics Brilliant Classics is a classical music label based in the Dutch town of Leeuwarden. It is renowned for releasing super-budget-priced editions on CD of the complete works of J.S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and many other composers. The label also sp ...

References

Notes Sources * Grout, Donald Jay and Hermine Weigel Williams (2003)
''A Short History of Opera''
Columbia University Press, pp. 229–232. * Palisca, Claude V. ''Norton Anthology of Western Music: Volume 2: Classic to Modern''. New York: W. W. Norton, 2001 *

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 ...

and Ewan West (1992) ''The Oxford Dictionary of Opera''.

External links

Librettos

* *

Scores

* at

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Serva Padrona, La Italian-language operas Opera buffa Intermezzi Operas 1733 operas Operas by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi