Fra i due litiganti il terzo gode

Dramma giocoso by Giuseppe Sarti

Giuseppe Sarti

Language| Italian
Based on| Carlo Goldoni's Le nozze
Premiere|

14 September 1782 (1782-09-14)

La Scala, Milan

Fra i due litiganti il terzo gode (While Two Dispute, the Third Enjoys) is a dramma giocoso in two acts by Giuseppe Sarti. The libretto was after Carlo Goldoni's Le nozze (The Marriage).

One aria from this opera, "Come un agnello", is famously quoted by Mozart at the end of Don Giovanni.[1]

## Performance history

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It was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan on 14 September 1782.[2] It became very successful, being produced under different names, in different languages, and in numerous European cities. For instance, it was performed as Le nozze di Dorina, with inserted arias by Giovanni Battista Viotti, for the opening of the Théâtre de Monsieur in Paris on 6 January 1791.[3][4] The work also used music composed by Pasquale Anfossi, Antonio Salieri, and Stephen Storace in addition to the composer himself.

## Roles

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Roles, voice types, premiere cast Role  | Voice type | Premiere cast, 14 September 1782[2]

|
|

Count Belfiore  | bass | Giovanni Marliani
Countess Belfiore  | soprano | Angela Marzorati
Masotto, steward to the Count and Countess, in love with Dorina | tenor | Antonio Palmini
Dorina. a serving maid | soprano  | Nancy Storace
Titta, servant to the Count, also pursuing Dorina | baritone | Francesco Benucci
Mingone, the gardener, likewise interested in Dorina | tenor  | Giuseppe Lolli
Livietta, the Countess's maid | soprano  | Vittoria Moreschi Balzani

## Synopsis

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The opera has a story similar to Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro (1786) involving complex intrigues between a pair of jealous, quarrelling aristocrats and their servants.

## Notes

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1. ^ For a detailed discussion of this borrowing, see Daniel E. Freeman, Mozart in Prague (Minneapolis: Calumet Editions, 2021), 285-86.
2. ^ a b Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Fra i due litiganti il terzo gode, 14 September 1782". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
3. ^ Warwick Lister, Amico: The Life of Giovanni Battista Viotti, p. 147. (Oxford, 1992) ISBN 978-0-19-537240-3.
4. ^ "Sarti, Giuseppe" in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie, vol. 4, p. 185. (London, 1992) ISBN 0-333-73432-7.

## Further reading

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* Fra i due litiganti il terzo gode by John Platoff, in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992) ISBN 0-333-73432-7

## External links

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* Fra i due litiganti il terzo gode and Les noces de Dorine: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
* Work details operamanager.com (in Italian)
* Italian libretto

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Giuseppe Sarti

* List of operas

Operas|

* Didone abbandonata (1762)
* Le gelosie villane (1776)
* Medonte, re di Epiro (1777)
* Giulio Sabino (1781)
* Fra i due litiganti il terzo gode (1782)

Category:Operas by Giuseppe Sarti

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