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Word: buffa (lookup in dictionary) (lookup stats)
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...life composed of second acts bring off a grand finale? Sonny Bono did just that. His opera buffa culminated in a Palm Springs, Calif., funeral in a Roman Catholic church, attended by three wives, his gay-activist daughter, conservative G.O.P. hierarchs from Washington and stand-up eulogists getting laughs from leather-clad bikers listening in from the streets and a worldwide audience watching live on cable TV. Even when his life finally got suddenly and fatally out of control, his timing was impeccable. He died like a Kennedy, on skis, against a tree. And if that's funny...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: The Sonny Side of Life: SONNY BONO (1935-1998) | 1/19/1998 | See Source »

...plot of the opera needs no emphasis here because the production didn't emphasize it either: like almost every other opera buffa, "L'Elisir" has a lot to do with jealousy, wine, and a lot of coincidences. The details of Felice Romani's libretto are hardly indistinguishable from those of most of Donizetti's more than 30 other comedies, save for the introduction of a pharmacy on wheels. Here's all you need to know: Uniforms are sexy, but enough money can make anyone seem lovable. Bordeaux is worth whatever you pay for it. People are really, really stupid...

Author: By Matthew A. Carter, | Title: BLO's 'Elisir d'Amore' a Sure-Fire Cure for the Opera Blues | 4/10/1997 | See Source »

...intermission takes us from the Florentinepeasantry to the Parisian demi-monde, fromthirteenth-century buffa to nineteenth-centuryjoie de vivre...

Author: By John D. Shepherd, | Title: Dunster House Scales Puccini | 2/23/1995 | See Source »

This coarse pantomime misses the comic brio of buffa; instead we have the self-conscious and self-subverting irony of a "Saturday Night Live" sketch. The chaotic ensemble action of the first scene--where the various members of Buoso's family mourn his death only because they fear disinheritance--is only a slight improvement...

Author: By John D. Shepherd, | Title: Dunster House Scales Puccini | 2/23/1995 | See Source »

...bumbling of the Donati clan. He is a marvel to watch. Taking care to ensure his delivery is clear and comprehensible, he displays a range of gesture and emotion that transcends the handwaving and mugging of some of the smaller roles. Here, we have comic subtlety of the true buffa coin...

Author: By John D. Shepherd, | Title: Dunster House Scales Puccini | 2/23/1995 | See Source »

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