Simone is an ordinary valet, blunt rather than rude, and merry, all which is well represented by the music, the part seldom rising, however, above the ordinary buffo level. Most genial and telling is the song(13)—
Con certe persone Vuol esser bastone—
and the concluding refrain "Madama, bastone!" is pretty and comical. Poggi, who took the servants' and peasants' parts, possessed a fine bass voice and correct execution, together with a charming style of acting, and was the favourite of connoisseurs.[26]
The character most devoid of colour is that of Ninetta, and we find in it no foretaste of a Susannah or a Despina. It can only have been intended for Bemasconi, who had made a great sensation as Sandrina in Piccini's "Buona Figliola," and in Sacchini's "Contadina in Corte."[27] It is indicative of the healthiness of Mozart's genius that some of the songs for these less important personages were rewritten several times, no doubt at the request of the performers.[28] Where any natural emotion or characteristic situation is to be represented, his judgment is at once correct and decided; but in unimportant matters he is ready to yield to the wishes of the singers and the public, and to attempt various modes of expression in search of what is pleasing and harmonious.
In accordance with the prevailing fashion, solo songs abound in this opera; each character has two or three, Rosine has four, and the total number amounts to twenty. The majority are formed on the same model, the usual one of the day.
They have a long ritomello, and consist of two movements, differing in time, measure, and key, which are generally both repeated; each movement is woven into one long thread, the motifs being sometimes repeated, but never really worked out. This clumsy form gives few opportunities for dramatic effect, and is especially adapted for the singer who is desirous of displaying his own,
As a matter of course, those songs which have most originality disregard such rules, and their form is rounder, THE FIRST OPERA IN VIENNA. more self-contained and complete. In these, little opportunity is given for a display of execution; the melodies are simple, ornamental passages and runs few in number,[29] and little beyond the cadenzas is left to the singers' discretion. The natural expression of feeling in the songs is never inconsistent with the style of an opera buffa; all is cheerful, light, and easy of apprehension.
By the side of these numerous airs, there is only one duet between Fracasso and Cassandro (19), of a purely comic character; Cassandro assumes an air of arrogant importance, but, terrified in reality, seeks by any means to escape from the proposed duel. This is animated, and must have been very effective at the time; but it is in reality a solo for the bass buffo, for Fracasso has only detached ejaculations, and the two voices never go together.
Each act of the opera ends with a finale, in which the action, increasing in intensity through the several scenes, is wound up and represented to the audience in a connected and coherent form. Clearly defined rules left little scope for originality in the arrangement and composition of these finales. Changes of time, measure, and key took place according to rule with every change of situation; and each movement formed a complete and detached whole. When the action becomes animated, or the dialogue rapid, the orchestra, by means of retaining and developing a characteristic motif, supplies a framework from which individual dramatic features can be detached without risk of the whole falling asunder.