About the work
Dramma giocoso in two acts by Vicente Martín y Soler to a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, who by his own account wrote the text in just three weeks while the composer lodged with him; first performed on 27 January 1795 at the King's Theatre, London, under its original title 'La scuola dei maritati'.
Plot
The wealthy merchant Bonario suffers under his capricious and domineering second wife Ciprigna, who threatens to drive his grown children and servants from the house. When a servant disguised as an oriental ambassador lures her away with the promise of an island paradise, and a storm leaves her locked outside, Ciprigna repentantly recognises her faults.
Cultural significance
The last of five collaborations between Martín y Soler and Da Ponte toured Europe under various titles ('Gli sposi in contrasto', 'La moglie corretta'), and as late as 1802 The Times praised it as superior to any contemporary composition, before it fell into obscurity and was rediscovered only in the early twenty-first century.