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La buona figliuola (1767) - Niccolò Piccinni
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Background
Goldoni turned to Samuel Richardson’s novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1740) as the inspiration for his La buona figliuola. In 1750, he wrote the play Pamela nubile and then turned it into a libretto for Duni. Although Duni’s La buona figliuola (1756) was a failure, Piccinni’s setting in 1760 was a huge success.
The hilarious comedy coupled with Piccinni’s sentimental treatment of Cecchina contributed to the popularity of the opera, which still receives performances to this day. Typical of opera buffe, La buona figliuola features chain-like finales that propel the plot and characters to the end of the act (at that time, sectional finales were new to Rome). Other features of his music that receive praise are the beautiful, Italianate melodies, energetic accompaniments, and the variety of musical treatment throughout the opera.
Later renditions of La buona figlioula were composed by Salvatore Perillo (1760) and more than a century later by Achille Graffigna (1886). However, Piccinni’s opera is by far the best known of the settings of Goldoni’s libretto.
Plot
The three acts of La buona figliuola concern the Marchese della Conchiglia’s desire to marry Cecchina, a maid. The Cavaliere Armidoro, who is concerned about social status, refuses to marry Marchese’s sister, Lucinda, if the Marchese follows through on his plan. As a result, Lucinda tries to persuade her brother not to marry Cecchina. Cecchina must also deal with Mengotto, a poor man who is in love with her, and two jealous maids, Sandrina and Paoluccia. In the end, a German soldier named Tagliaferro recognizes Cecchina as the daughter of a German baron, which allows Cecchina to marry the Marchese without upsetting Armidoro.
Bibliography
Title from title page: La / BUONA FIGLIUOLA; / Opera Comica
Genre: Opera buffa
Composer: Niccolò Piccinni, 1728-1800
Librettist: Carlo Goldoni, 1707-1793
Libretto based on: Samuel Richardson’s novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded
Premiere: Rome, Teatro delle Dame, 6 February 1760
First published: London: Robert Bremner, n.d.
Volume in the UNT Collection: London: Robert Bremner, n.d.
For further reading on La buona figliuola, see:
Heartz, Daniel. “The Creation of the Buffo Finale in Italian Opera.” Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association 104 (1977-78): 67-78.
Hunter, Mary. “La buona figliuola.” Grove Music Online, ed. Laura Macy. [Accessed 17 December 2003]. <http://www.grovemusic.com>
________. “Pamela: The Offspring of Richardson’s Heroine in Eighteenth-Centuy Opera.” Mosaic 18 (1985): 61-76.
Liggett, M. A Biography of Piccinni and a Critical Study of His La Didone and Didon. Ph.D. diss.: Washington University, 1977.
Piperno, Franco. “'La mia cara Cecchina e baronessa': Livelli stilistici e assetto drammaturgico ne La buona figliuola di Goldoni-Piccinni.” Analecta musicological 30 (1998): 523-42.
Rushton, Julian. Music and Drama at the Académie Royale de Musique, Paris, 1774-1789. Ph.D. diss.: University of Oxford, 1970.
________. “The Theory and Practice of Piccinnisme.” Proceedings of the Royal Music Association 98 (1971-72): 31-46.
Physical
Dimensions: 32.5 x 24.2 cm.
Collation: [unable to determine formula] 47 leaves, pp. [3] 2-5 [2] 2-35 [2] 36-84.
Conservation: Very light foxing, stained pages, bleed-through.
Binding: Brown patterned paper-covered board with brown leather spine; gold-stamped spine reads “PICCINI – LA BUONA FIGIUOLA – SCORE”; rebound in modern library style.
Comments: Copper-plate engraving (plates measure 27.9 x 19.2 cm); dealer plate reads “KENNETH MUMMERY / Books and Music / Bournemouth, England”; from the Lloyd Hibberd Collection.