[Illustration: PRIZE MODEL FOR NEW MONUMENT TO MOZART IN VIENNA.
It was different in _opera buffa_. In this species of opera the virtuosos were not so powerful as the poet and the composer. The castrate could not afford to waste his time in consorting with the "_bouffons_," and so his place was taken by the tenor, who became the passionate lover. In like manner the _prima donna_, was paid such a small sum that the manager was obliged to look for women of ambition and dramatic talent instead of acknowledged vocal skill. The _basso_ was admitted to the company, and here was the foundation of an ensemble impossible in grand opera. The _opera seria_ remained in its conventional or ideal world; the _opera buffa_ was concerned with subjects of everyday life. The former clung to history or legend; the latter delighted in appealing to the life of the people. The composer was allowed more liberty. He was not confined to the _da capo_ air, composed of two parts with the invariable repetition of the first; he could use the rondo, where the chief melody appears after each secondary theme; or the cavatina, with one movement; or the chanson with its simple couplet; in other words, he could better suit the dramatic action. He wrote duets, trios, quartets of importance, and gradually the finale was developed. So too the orchestra, which had been subordinated to the imperious singer in _opera seria_, found its voice, and even sang in passages where the text demanded of the singer a rapid delivery that was almost dramatic speech. The _opera buffa_ rapidly grew in public favor, and Arteaga in his famous book on the "Revolution of Italian Dramatic Music" frankly confessed that the _opera buffa_ was in better condition and gave greater promise than its more pretentious rival.
The first attempts of Mozart in dramatic composition do not call for special attention. They were in the conventional style of the day, and the librettos were wretched. Two of them "Bastien et Bastienne" and "La finta Giardiniera" were revived in Germany in 1892 and with considerable success. In the latter the characters are well defined; the melody is spontaneous; there is color; and the finales are well developed. But in "Idomeneo" (1781) we first see the peculiar dramatic genius of Mozart. There is still the formalism of the _opera seria_, but there are traces of the influence of French dramatic sincerity, and of his own artistic individuality. Jahn has described the opera as "the genuine Italian _opera seria_ brought to its utmost perfection by Mozart's highly cultivated individuality." The chorus is brought into prominence; the instrumentation is richer than in contemporaneous works, and there are evidences of the study of Gluck, as in the accompaniment of three trombones and two horns in the proclaiming of the oracle of Neptune. That he was convinced at the time of the superiority of French taste in dramatic music, as in truth of diction and sincerity, is shown by the fact that he wished to bring it out in Vienna rearranged after the French model. And it may here be said that if Mozart in the formation of his song was strongly influenced by Italian spirit, he was also deeply impressed by the sense of proportion, that was characteristic of French opera of his day. Grétry had shown great art in the connecting of the operatic scenes, translating faithfully the spoken word into musical speech, and individualizing by musical means the creatures of the play. It was reserved for Mozart, the greater genius, to carry Grétry's theories farther and at the same time never lose sight of the musical expression. Méhul once said that Grétry made wit and not music; this reproach could not justly be made against Mozart, although he walked in the same path with the author of "Le Tableau parlant" and "Richard." In spite of both the French and Italian influences, there was much that was novel in the expression of the phrase, the variety of thematic development, and the modulation, harmony, and instrumentation. Its first performance was an epoch in the history of opera.