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{{Short description|Brief comic opera}}
In theater and music history, a '''burletta''' ([[Italian language|Italian]], meaning "little joke", sometimes '''burla''' or '''burlettina''') is a brief comic [[opera]]. In eighteenth-century Italy, a burletta was the comic [[intermezzo]] between the acts of an ''[[opera seria]]''. The extended work [[Giovanni Battista Pergolesi|Pergolesi]]'s ''[[La serva padrona]]'' was also designated a "burletta" at its [[London]] premiere in 1758.<ref>A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers & Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800: Tibbett to M. West, Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans, SIU Press, 1973, p51</ref>
In theater and music history, a '''burletta''' ([[Italian language|Italian]], meaning "little joke", sometimes '''burla''' or '''burlettina''') is a brief comic [[opera]]. In eighteenth-century Italy, a burletta was the comic [[intermezzo]] between the acts of an ''[[opera seria]]''. The extended work [[Giovanni Battista Pergolesi|Pergolesi]]'s {{Lang|it|[[La serva padrona]]}} was also designated a "burletta" at its [[London]] premiere in 1758.<ref>A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers & Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800: Tibbett to M. West, Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans, SIU Press, 1973, p51</ref>


In England, the term began to be used, in contrast to [[burlesque]], for works that satirized opera but did not employ musical parody. Burlettas in [[English language|English]] began to appear in the 1760s, the earliest identified as such being ''[[Midas (burletta)|Midas]]'' by [[Kane O'Hara]], first performed privately in 1760 near [[Belfast]], and produced at [[Covent Garden Theatre|Covent Garden]] in 1764. The form became debased when the term ''burletta'' began to be used for English comic or [[ballad opera]]s, as a way of evading the [[monopoly]] on "legitimate drama"<ref>Meaning spoken plays, rather than opera, dance, concerts, or plays with music ({{cite web|url=http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1229543 |title=Definition from the Everything 2 website |publisher=Everything2.com |date=6 January 2002 |accessdate=20 March 2010}})</ref> in London belonging to Covent Garden and [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane|Drury Lane]]. After the passage of the [[Theatres Act 1843|Theatres Act of 1843]], which repealed crucial regulations of the [[Licensing Act 1737|Licensing Act of 1737]], use of the term declined.
In England, the term began to be used, in contrast to [[Victorian burlesque|burlesque]], for works that satirized opera but did not employ musical parody. Burlettas in [[English language|English]] began to appear in the 1760s, the earliest identified as such being ''[[Midas (burletta)|Midas]]'' by [[Kane O'Hara]], first performed privately in 1760 near [[Belfast]], and produced at [[Covent Garden Theatre|Covent Garden]] in 1764. The form became debased when the term ''burletta'' began to be used for English comic or [[ballad opera]]s, as a way of evading the [[monopoly]] on "legitimate drama"<ref>Meaning spoken plays, rather than opera, dance, concerts, or plays with music ({{cite web|url=http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1229543 |title=Definition from the Everything 2 website |publisher=Everything2.com |date=6 January 2002 |access-date=20 March 2010}})</ref> in London belonging to Covent Garden and [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane|Drury Lane]]. After the passage of the [[Theatres Act 1843]], which repealed crucial regulations of the [[Licensing Act 1737]], use of the term declined.


== List of Theatrical Burlettas ==
== List of theatrical Burlettas ==
* ''[[Midas (burletta)|Midas]]'' by [[Kane O'Hara]] (Belfast, 1760, Dublin, 1762)
* ''[[Midas (burletta)|Midas]]'' by [[Kane O'Hara]] (Belfast, 1760, Dublin, 1762)
* ''Orpheus'' by [[François-Hippolyte Barthélémon]] (London, 1767)
* ''Orpheus'' by [[François-Hippolyte Barthélémon]] (London, 1767)
* ''The Judgement of Paris'' by Barthélémon (London, 1768)
* ''The Judgement of Paris'' by Barthélémon (London, 1768)
* ''[[The Recruiting Serjeant]]'' by [[Charles Dibdin]] (London, 1770)
* ''[[The Recruiting Serjeant]]'' by [[Charles Dibdin]] (London, 1770)
* ''The Portrait'' by [[Samuel Arnold (composer) |Samuel Arnold]] (1770)
* ''The Portrait'' by [[Samuel Arnold (composer)|Samuel Arnold]] (1770)
* ''The Portrait'' by Barthélémon (Dublin, c. 1771)
* ''The Portrait'' by Barthélémon (Dublin, c. 1771)
* ''[[L'infedeltà delusa]]'' by [[Joseph Haydn]] (1773)
* ''The Golden Pippin'' by John Abraham Fisher (1773)
* ''The Golden Pippin'' by John Abraham Fisher (1773)
* ''Buxom Joan'' by [[Raynor Taylor]] (1778)
* ''Poor Vulcan'' by Dibdin (1778)
* ''Poor Vulcan'' by Dibdin (1778)
* ''Marie Tanner'', words by Broughton Black and Poland Henry, music by [[John Ivimey]] (produced at Cardiff, 1897)<ref>Charles H. Parsons, ''Opera Composers and Their Works: E-K'' (1986), p. 886</ref>
* ''Marie Tanner'', words by Broughton Black and Poland Henry, music by [[John Ivimey]] (produced at Cardiff, 1897)<ref>Charles H. Parsons, ''Opera Composers and Their Works: E-K'' (1986), p. 886</ref>
* ''[[Tom and Jerry, or Life in London]]'' by [[William Thomas Moncrieff|W. T. Moncrieff]] (1821)<ref>{{cite book | editor-last= Parker | editor-first= John | year=1925 | title= Who's Who in the Theatre | location=London |edition=fifth| publisher=Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons | page=1196| oclc=10013159}}</ref>


== Other Meanings ==
== Other Meanings ==
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;Sources
;Sources
* {{cite book| author = John Hamilton Warrack| author2 = Ewan West| title = The Oxford Dictionary of Opera| date = 1992-10-15| publisher = Oxford University Press, USA| isbn = 978-0-19-869164-8| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary00warr}}
* {{cite book| author = John Hamilton Warrack| author2 = Ewan West| title = The Oxford Dictionary of Opera| date = 1992-10-15| publisher = Oxford University Press, USA| isbn = 978-0-19-869164-8| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary00warr}}
* {{GroveOnline|title=Burletta|author=Nicholas Temperley|access-date=8 September 2007}}
* {{Cite Grove |last=Temperley |first=Nicholas |title=Burletta}}


{{Opera genres}}
{{Opera genres}}

Latest revision as of 14:45, 22 October 2024

In theater and music history, a burletta (Italian, meaning "little joke", sometimes burla or burlettina) is a brief comic opera. In eighteenth-century Italy, a burletta was the comic intermezzo between the acts of an opera seria. The extended work Pergolesi's La serva padrona was also designated a "burletta" at its London premiere in 1758.[1]

In England, the term began to be used, in contrast to burlesque, for works that satirized opera but did not employ musical parody. Burlettas in English began to appear in the 1760s, the earliest identified as such being Midas by Kane O'Hara, first performed privately in 1760 near Belfast, and produced at Covent Garden in 1764. The form became debased when the term burletta began to be used for English comic or ballad operas, as a way of evading the monopoly on "legitimate drama"[2] in London belonging to Covent Garden and Drury Lane. After the passage of the Theatres Act 1843, which repealed crucial regulations of the Licensing Act 1737, use of the term declined.

List of theatrical Burlettas

[edit]

Other Meanings

[edit]

The word burletta has also been used for scherzo-like instrumental music by composers including Max Reger and Bartók. In America, the word has sometimes been used as an alternative for burlesque.

References

[edit]
Notes
  1. ^ A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers & Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800: Tibbett to M. West, Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans, SIU Press, 1973, p51
  2. ^ Meaning spoken plays, rather than opera, dance, concerts, or plays with music ("Definition from the Everything 2 website". Everything2.com. 6 January 2002. Retrieved 20 March 2010.)
  3. ^ Charles H. Parsons, Opera Composers and Their Works: E-K (1986), p. 886
  4. ^ Parker, John, ed. (1925). Who's Who in the Theatre (fifth ed.). London: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons. p. 1196. OCLC 10013159.
Sources