Plot

Il Burbero di buon cuore is a dramma giocoso in two acts composed by Vicente Martín y Soler to a libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte, based on one of the most popular and amusing French comedies by Carlo Goldoni, Le bourru bienfaisant. The opera was premièred to a triumphant success in Vienna's Burgtheater on 4th January 1786. The gruff Ferramondo must deal with a nephew who has been ruined by his spendthrift wife, and who would like to have his sister sent to a convent so that he can get his hands on her dowry. The girl, of course, has other plans. A brilliant libretto, music that can be both graceful and captivating, and a first rate cast make of this opera a welcome rediscovery. Vicente Martín Y Soler was known in Europe during his lifetime as Vincenzo Martini,an Italian name that appears at the time to have been considered an advantage in the operatic world. When he met Lorenzo Da Ponte in 1785, Vicente Martín Y Soler, born in Valencia in 1754 already had to his credit a dozen operas, but decisive leap to his career was due to the collaboration with Da Ponte who wrote the librettos for: Il burbero di buon cuore (1786), Una cosa rara (1786) and L'arbore di Diana (1787). These were operas which shared the favour of the public in the imperial capital with Mozart's masterpieces, likewise on librettos by Da Ponte, Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni , and Così fan tutte. When Il Burbero di buon cuore was first staged in Vienna in 1786 it was warmly received by the audience. The music is simple, charming, orchestrated tastefully and with a wealth of colours. The handling of the situations is impeccable and the mechanism works perfectly, with suitable theatrical timings, so that the scenes follow one another with an urgent rhythm, giving the development of the plot a sensation of fresh naturalness up to the final dénouement. The Da Ponte - Martín Y Soler partnership collaborated again on the opera, Una cosa rara, ossia bellezza e onestà.