Comic opera had a real story that people liked; it had dramatic variety; and, musically, it had strong melodies and even strong supporting orchestral parts, including a strong "stand-alone" overture (i.e., you could even enjoy the overture as an independent orchestral piece). Verdi was also enthusiastic because the music was by a southern Italian and the text by a northerner, which appealed to Verdi's pan-Italian vision. The genre was developed further in the 19th century by Gioachino Rossini in his masterpieces such as "The Barber of Seville" (1816) and "La Cenerentola" (1817). French composers eagerly seized upon the Italian model and made
Opera buffa "The New Grove Dictionary of Opera" considers "La Cilla" (music by Michelangelo Faggioli, text by , 1706) and Luigi and Federico Ricci's" Crispino e la comare" (1850) to be the first and last appearances of the genre, although the term is still occasionally applied to newer work (for example Ernst Krenek's "Zeitoper" "Schwergewicht"). High points in this history are the 80 or so libretti by Carlindo Grolo, Loran Glodici, Sogol Cardoni and various other approximate anagrams of Carlo Goldoni, the three Mozart/Da Ponte collaborations, and the comedies of Gioachino Rossini. Similar foreign genres such as "opéra comique" or "Singspiel" differed