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 (1944 film) is lifted from Woody's first starring appearance in the 1941 cartoon "Woody Woodpecker", in which Woody was voiced by Mel Blanc. Ben Hardaway, also the co-storyman on "Barber of Seville", provides Woody's voice for the first time (replacing Kent Rogers, who was killed in a World War II plane crash three months after this short's release), and Lee Sweetland performs as Woody's singing voice. Hardaway would become Woody's sole speaking voice for the remainder of the decade. Finally, "The Barber of Seville" was the first Woody cartoon directed by veteran animator James "Shamus" Culhane, who had been working on Lantz's