| Italian: La finta parigina | |
| Type: | Opera buffa |
| Librettist: | Francesco Cerlone |
| Language: | Italian |
| Premiere Location: | Teatro Nuovo, Naples |
La finta parigina (The false Parisienne) is an opera buffa in 3 acts by Domenico Cimarosa with an Italian libretto by Francesco Cerlone. The opera premiered at the Teatro Nuovo in Naples, in 1773.[1] [2]
La finta parigina was composed for Carnival of 1773 and, although the exact date of the work's premiere is now unknown. It is the second of the sixty-eight operas that Cimarosa wrote and is written in the then popular style of Neapolitan opera buffa. The libretto uses Neapolitan dialect and praises Cimarosa's home town of Aversa, notably its mozzarella cheese and Asprina wine. most of the opera consists of solo numbers, with only a few brief duets and ensembles.
The opera relates the amorous misadventures of a group including the shopkeeper Cardillo (baritone), his sister Rosalina (soprano), the nobles Donna Olimpia (soprano) and Don Flaminio (alto), a Frenchman Monsiu Blò (tenor) and Donna Armida (soprano), the 'fake Parisienne'.
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, Carnival 1773 (Conductor: -) |
|---|---|---|
| Donna Olimpia Onesti, Don Martino's wife who is supposedly dead | soprano | |
| Don Flaminio del Sole, a local dandy | tenor | |
| Mossiù Le Blò, a French doctor who is really a quack | tenor | |
| Don Martino Crespa, Donna Olimpia's supposedly widowed husband | baritone | |
| Donna Armida Gnoccolosa, engaged to Don Martino | soprano | |
| Cardillo, an innkeeper | baritone | |
| Malacarne, brother of Cardillo | bass | |
| Preziosa, a purveyor of cheese | soprano | |
| Rosolina, Cardillo's young sister | soubrette | |