La gazzetta

La gazzetta, ossia Il matrimonio per concorso (The Newspaper, or The Marriage Contest) is an opera buffa by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was by Giuseppe Palomba after Carlo Goldoni'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 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.

Performance history

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

Roles

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

References

Notes

Sources

• Gossett, Philip, essay in the booklet accompanying the recording of Il Turco in Italia (1991), with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, conducted by Sir Neville Marriner.
• Holden, Amanda (Ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York:......
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