About the work
Dramma giocoso (opera buffa) in three acts by Niccolò Piccinni to a libretto by Carlo Goldoni, based on Samuel Richardson's novel 'Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded' (1740). It was first performed on 6 February 1760 at the Teatro delle Dame in Rome, with an entirely male cast.
Plot
The maidservant Cecchina is loved by the Marchese della Conchiglia, causing an uproar in his circle: Cavaliere Armidoro refuses to go through with his arranged marriage to the Marchesa Lucinda in protest. Only once Cecchina turns out to be the daughter of a German baron does the way lie open for her union with the Marchese.
Cultural significance
The opera became the greatest success of Piccinni's Italian career and arguably the most widely performed opera buffa of the eighteenth century, reaching stages from London to the imperial court of the Qianlong Emperor in China, where it was staged in 1778. Its popularity even spawned a sequel, 'La buona figliuola maritata', in 1761.