Impresario in angustie, L’ (‘The Impresario in Distress’)
- Gordana Lazarevich
Extract
(‘The Impresario in Distress’)
Farsa per musica in one act by Domenico Cimarosa to a libretto by Giuseppe Maria Diodati; Naples, Teatro Nuovo, 1786.
In a theatre near Naples, three sopranos, a librettist (Don Perizonio Fattapane, bass), a composer (Gelindo Scagliozzi, tenor), and an impresario (Don Crisobolo, bass) await the production of a new opera. As the text and music are in the process of being written, the singers (the prima buffa Fiordispina, the ‘prima donna giocosa’ Merlina and the ‘prima donna seria’ Doralba) request roles and music especially suited to each of them, as well as placing demands on the frustrated impresario. Fiordispina, who is wooed by both the poet and the impresario, is not happy with the impresario’s choice of composer, since his music previously resulted in a fiasco for her. Merlina, on the other hand, is capitalizing on the composer’s amorous feelings towards her. To everyone’s general dismay, the opera is not produced because of the impresario’s bankruptcy....
