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
Opera buffa opera seria deals with gods and ancient heroes and only occasionally contained comic scenes, "opera buffa" involves the predominant use of comic scenes, characters, and plot lines in a contemporary setting. The traditional model for opera seria had three acts, dealt with serious subjects in mythical settings, as stated above, and used high voices (both sopranos and castrati) for principal characters, often even for monarchs. In contrast, the model that generally held for "opera buffa" was having two acts (as, for example, "The Barber of Seville"), presenting comic scenes and situations as earlier stated and using the lower male voices