About the work
Opera buffa in three acts by the brothers Luigi and Federico Ricci to a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, first performed on 28 February 1850 at the Teatro San Benedetto in Venice. It was the brothers' last joint opera; sources credit Luigi Ricci in particular with composing the greater part of the score.
Plot
The impoverished Venetian cobbler Crispino is given the gift, by a fairy, of foretelling whether a patient will live or die, and rises to become a celebrated doctor. Dazzled by his sudden wealth and standing, he grows arrogant and neglects his wife Annetta, until the fairy shows him the limits of his power and, chastened, he returns to his family.
Cultural significance
Crispino e la comare became the Ricci brothers' greatest success and remained a staple of touring Italian opera companies as far afield as the Americas and Australia for decades; as more serious operatic subjects gained ground, the buffa opera fell increasingly out of fashion after the First World War and is now only rarely performed.