- Source: Duetto buffo di due gatti
The "Duetto buffo di due gatti" (humorous duet for two cats) is a performance piece for two sopranos and piano. Oft performed as a comical concert encore, it consists entirely of the repeated word miau ("meow") sung by the singers. It is sometimes performed by a soprano and a tenor, or a soprano and a bass.
While the piece is typically attributed to Gioachino Rossini, it was not actually written by him, but is instead a compilation written in 1825 that draws principally on his 1816 opera Otello. Hubert Hunt claims that the compiler was Robert Lucas de Pearsall, who for this purpose adopted the pseudonym "G. Berthold".
Structure
In order of appearance, the piece consists of:
the "Katte-Cavatine" by the Danish composer C. E. F. Weyse
part of the duet "No, non temer, serena" for Rodrigo and Iago in act 1 of Otello, there belonging to the words "Se uniti negli affanni noi fummo un tempo insieme" etc.
part of the cabaletta to the aria "Ah, come mai non senti", sung by Rodrigo in the second act of the same opera.
See also
"Duo miaulé" in L'enfant et les sortilèges
Duett: "Nun, liebes Weibchen ... Miau! Miau!" (Lubano, Lubanara), in Der Stein der Weisen (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart et al.)
References
Further reading
Andrew Cooper, "Rossini's Cat Duet", message to OPERA-L, June 17, 2004.
External links
"Duetto buffo di due gatti": Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
James Manheim. Duetto buffo di due gatti (Cat Duet), for 2 voices & piano at AllMusic
Score at el-atril.com
Video (German narration introduction), Felicity Lott (soprano), Ann Murray (mezzo-soprano), Andrew Davis (piano), BBC Proms 1996, archived from the original on 2022-01-24.
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
- Rossini (film)
- Aureliano in Palmira
- Duetto buffo di due gatti
- The Barber of Seville
- List of compositions by Gioachino Rossini
- La gazza ladra
- William Tell Overture
- Cultural depictions of cats
- Largo al factotum
- Il turco in Italia
- Gioachino Rossini
- L'italiana in Algeri
