(While Two Dispute, the Third Enjoys) is a dramma giocoso in two acts by Giuseppe Sarti. The libretto was after Carlo Goldoni's Le nozze (The Marriage).
One aria from this opera, "Come un agnello", is famously quoted by Mozart at the end of Don Giovanni.For a detailed discussion of this borrowing, see Daniel E. Freeman, Mozart in Prague (Minneapolis: Calumet Editions, 2021), 285-86.
Performance history It was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan on 14 September 1782. It became very successful, being produced under different names, in different languages, and in numerous European cities. For instance, it was performed as Le nozze di Dorina, with inserted arias by Giovanni Battista Viotti, for the opening of the Théâtre de Monsieur in Paris on 6 January 1791.Warwick Lister, Amico: The Life of Giovanni Battista Viotti, p. 147. (Oxford, 1992) ."Sarti, Giuseppe" in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie, vol. 4, p. 185. (London, 1992) . The work also used music composed by Pasquale Anfossi, Antonio Salieri, and Stephen Storace in addition to the composer himself.
Roles +RoleVoice typePremiere cast, 14 September 1782Count BelfiorebassGiovanni MarlianiCountess BelfioresopranoAngela MarzoratiMasotto, steward to the Count and Countess, in love with DorinatenorAntonio PalminiDorina. a serving maidsopranoNancy StoraceTitta, servant to the Count, also pursuing DorinabaritoneFrancesco BenucciMingone, the gardener, likewise interested in DorinatenorGiuseppe LolliLivietta, the Countess's maidsopranoVittoria Moreschi Balzani
Synopsis The opera has a story similar to Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro (1786) involving complex intrigues between a pair of jealous, quarrelling aristocrats and their servants.
Notes
Further reading Fra i due litiganti il terzo gode by John Platoff, in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992)
External links
Work details operamanager.com (in Italian) Italian libretto