Lo spirito di contradizione

Lo spirito di contradizione (The Spirit of Contradiction) is an opera buffa in three acts by Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi.

Guglielmi contributed a large part of the music to Pasquale Anfossi's 1763 opera Lo sposo di tre e marito di nessuna, which had a Neapolitan libretto by Antonio Palomba. Much of this work was reused by Guglielmi for Lo spirito di contradizione, with the text revised for the Venetian audience by Gaetano Martinelli.

Performance history

It was first performed at the Teatro San Moisè in Venice during carnival 1766.

Roles

Cast	Voice type	Premiere, carnival, 1766 (Conductor:Unknown)
Don Cesarino	tenor
Lisetta	soprano
Cecchina	soprano
Countess Flaminia	mezzo-soprano
Orazio Capocchio, in love with Lisetta	tenor
Agabito, a notary in love with Cecchina	tenor
Nanetta	soprano
Asdrubale, the governor, Nanetta's brother	tenor

Synopsis

Don Cesarino is scheming to marry three women (Lisetta, Cecchina and the Countess Flaminia) for their dowries and then disappear, but other men also interested in the women, thwart his plan.

References

• Hunter, Mary (1992), 'Spirito di contradizione, Lo' in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London) ISBN 0-333-73432-7