Wiktionary (0.00 / 0 votes) Rate this definition: quaff (Noun). The act of quaffing, a deep draught. quaff (Verb). To drink or imbibe, especially with vigour. Origin: Attested since the mid 16th century, of uncertain origin. Suggestions include connection with Irish Gaelic cauch (whence Scots quaich, queff). The noun is derived from the verb, since the later 16th century.
The recitative is an outgrowth of the style of performing epic musical poetic works in folk singing. The emergence of the recitative in professional music was associated with the development of opera in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
Titta Ruffo as Rigoletto, c. 1912. Rigoletto is a distinguished opera. Composed in forty days in 1851, nearing three-quarters of a century of life before the footlights, it still retains its vitality. Twenty years, with all they imply the experience and artistic growth, lie between Rigoletto and Aida..