About the work
La diavolessa is a dramma giocoso in three acts by Baldassare Galuppi to a libretto by Carlo Goldoni. It premiered in November 1755 at the Teatro San Samuele in Venice.
Plot
The credulous Poppone is deceived by the poor couple Giannino and Dorina, who pose as a count and countess to exploit his obsession with a supposedly buried treasure. To get him to hand over money, they even appear to him disguised as demons in the cellar. In the end the deception is uncovered, but Poppone forgives them once Giannino has in fact come into real wealth.
Cultural significance
The Act 2 finale is regarded as the opera's most striking musical passage, where Galuppi uses continuous, rhythmically pointed orchestral writing to conjure the supposed supernatural powers in the cellar. The opera thus illustrates Venetian opera buffa's ability to tie comic deception closely to musical illustration.