Duetto buffo di due gatti

The "Duetto buffo di due gatti" (humorous duet for two cats) is a performance piece for two sopranos and piano. Often performed as a comical concert encore, it consists entirely of the repeated word miau ("meow") sung by the singers. It is sometimes performed by a soprano and a tenor, or a soprano and a bass.

While the piece is typically attributed to Gioachino Rossini, it was not actually written by him, but is instead a compilation written in 1825 that draws principally on Rossini's 1816 opera Otello . Hubert Hunt claims that the compiler was Robert Lucas de Pearsall, who for this purpose adopted the pseudonym "G. Berthold". ^[1]

Structure

In order of appearance, the piece consists of:

• the "Katte-Cavatine" by the Danish composer C. E. F. Weyse ^[2]
• part of the duet "No, non temer, serena" for Rodrigo and Iago in act 1 of Otello, there belonging to the words "Se uniti negli affanni noi fummo un tempo insieme" etc. ^[3]
• part of the cabaletta to the aria "Ah, come mai non senti", sung by Rodrigo in the second act of the same opera. ^[4]

See also

• "Duo miaulé" in L'enfant et les sortilèges
• Duett: "Nun, liebes Weibchen ... Miau! Miau!" (Lubano, Lubanara), in Der Stein der Weisen (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart et al.)

References

1. Hunt, Hubert; Hunt, Edgar (1977). Bois, Chesham; Woodstra, Chris (eds.). Robert Lucas Pearsall: The compleat gentleman and his music, 1795–1856 (illustrated ed.). Hubert & Edgar Hunt / Amersham (published 2005). p. 1126. ISBN   978-0-9505-8310-5 – via Google.
2. Osborne, Richard (1986). Rossini. London, UK: Dent. p. 179.
3. Otello ossia L'Africano in Venezia, tragische Oper in drey Aufzügen von J. Rossini [sic], Klavierauszug (PDF). Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel. p. 29.
4. Otello ossia L'Africano in Venezia, tragische Oper in drey Aufzügen von J. Rossini [sic], Klavierauszug (PDF). Leipzig, DE: Breitkopf und Härtel. p. 102.

Further reading

• Cooper, Andrew (8 November 1995). Cat duet – all is revealed (Rossini's cat duet). Subscribers' corner e‑mail lists. Opera-L Archives. Archived from the original on 2011-07-25.

External links

• "Duetto buffo di due gatti" : Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• James Manheim. Duetto buffo di due gatti (Cat Duet), for 2 voices & piano at AllMusic
• Rossini, G. Due gatti (PDF). el-atril.com (musical score).
• Felicity Lott (soprano), Ann Murray (mezzo-soprano), Andrew Davis (piano) (1996). Duetto buffo di due gatti (music video). BBC Proms. Archived from the original on 2022-01-24. Introductory German language narration