Opera buffa prima donna soubrette (soprano or mezzo); a light, amorous tenor; a basso cantante or baritone capable of lyrical, mostly ironical expression; and a basso buffo whose vocal skills, largely confined to clear articulation and the ability to "patter", must also extend to the baritone for the purposes of comic duets. The type of comedy could vary, and the range was great: from Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" in 1816 which was purely comedic, to Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" in 1786 which added drama and pathos. Another example of Romantic "opera buffa" would be Donizetti's "L'elisir d'amore" of 1832. While
The Barber of Seville play, "Le Barbier de Séville", had a similar story: poorly received at first, only to become a favorite within a week. The opera was first performed in England on 10 March 1818 at the King's Theatre in London in Italian, soon followed on 13 October at the Covent Garden Theatre by an English version translated by John Fawcett and Daniel Terry. It was first performed in America on 3 May 1819 in English (probably the Covent Garden version) at the Park Theatre in New York. It was given in French at the Théâtre d'Orléans in New Orleans on 4 March