In theater and music history, aburletta (Italian, meaning "little joke", sometimesburla orburlettina) is a brief comicopera. In eighteenth-century Italy, a burletta was the comicintermezzo between the acts of anopera seria. The extended workPergolesi'sLa serva padrona was also designated a "burletta" at itsLondon premiere in 1758.[1]
In England, the term began to be used, in contrast toburlesque, for works that satirized opera but did not employ musical parody. Burlettas inEnglish began to appear in the 1760s, the earliest identified as such beingMidas byKane O'Hara, first performed privately in 1760 nearBelfast, and produced atCovent Garden in 1764. The form became debased when the termburletta began to be used for English comic orballad operas, as a way of evading themonopoly on "legitimate drama"[2] in London belonging to Covent Garden andDrury Lane. After the passage of theTheatres Act 1843, which repealed crucial regulations of theLicensing Act 1737, use of the term declined.
The wordburletta has also been used forscherzo-like instrumental music by composers includingMax Reger andBartók. In America, the word has sometimes been used as an alternative forburlesque.
^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
^Meaning spoken plays, rather than opera, dance, concerts, or plays with music ("Definition from the Everything 2 website". Everything2.com. 6 January 2002. Retrieved20 March 2010.)
^Charles H. Parsons,Opera Composers and Their Works: E-K (1986), p. 886
^Parker, John, ed. (1925).Who's Who in the Theatre (fifth ed.). London: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons. p. 1196.OCLC10013159.
