La gazzetta, ossia Il matrimonio per concorso (The Newspaper, or The Marriage Contest) is an opera buffa

Opera buffa

Opera buffa 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’, ‘dramma bernesco’, ‘dramma comico’, ‘divertimento giocoso' etc...

 by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was by Giuseppe Palomba after Carlo Goldoni

Carlo Goldoni

Carlo Osvaldo Goldoni was an Italian playwright and librettist from the Republic of Venice. His works include some of Italy's most famous and best-loved plays. Audiences have admired the plays of Goldoni for their ingenious mix of wit and honesty...

's play Il matrimonio per concorso of 1763.

The opera satirizes the influence of newspapers on people's lives. It was a great success in its time. As was his wont, Rossini borrowed melodic fragments from some of his previous works, Il Turco in Italia

Il turco in Italia

Il turco in Italia is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The Italian-language libretto was written by Felice Romani...

being the largest contributor. The overture is probably the best known piece from the opera, because, along with other music from La gazzetta, it was incorporated into La Cenerentola

La Cenerentola

La Cenerentola, ossia La bontà in trionfo is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the fairy tale Cinderella...

.

Performance history

The opera was first performed on 26 September 1816 at the Teatro dei Fiorentini in Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, September 26, 1816 (Conductor: - )
Don Pomponio	bass	Carlo Casaccia
Lisetta, his daughter	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...	Margherita Chambrend
Filippo, an innkeeper, in love with Lisetta	baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...	Felice Pellegrini
Alberto, a wealthy young man	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	Alberigo Curioni
Doralice, in search of a husband	soprano	Francesca Cardini
Anselmo, her father	bass	Giovanni Pace
Madama La Rose	mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...	Maria Manzi
Monsù Traversen, an old roué	bass	Francesco Sparano

Synopsis

The opera tells the story of a pretentious Neapolitan, Don Pomponio Storione, who travels the world in search of a husband for his daughter, putting ads in the newspapers. He arrives in a city, and after a series of ridiculously inadequate suitors, such as the Quaker Monsù Traversen or the waiter at the hotel, who usually end up beating poor Pomponio, he finally resigns to let his daughter marry her lover, the only suitor he seems to consider inappropriate.

Recordings

Year	Cast: Storione, Lisetta, Filipo, Doralice	Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra	Label
2001	Bruno Praticò, Stefania Bonfadelli, Pietro Spagnoli, Marisa Martins	Maurizio Barbacini , Orchestra Giovanile del Festival di Pesaro and the Prague Chamber Chorus (Recorded at the Rossini Opera Festival Pesaro, August 2001)	Audio CD: Rossini Opera Festival Cat: ROF 10043
2005	Bruno Praticò, Cinzia Forte, Pietro Spagnoli, Marisa Martins	Maurizio Barbacini, Gran Teatro del Liceo Orchestra and Chorus (Video recording of a performance in the Gran Teatro del Liceo)	DVD:- Opus Arte Cat: OA 953D