Fracasso is a lover of the usual type, rough and impetuous as becomes a Hungarian officer, quarrelsome with the two brothers, but without marked individuality. This it was impossible for so young a composer as Mozart to evolve out of such commonplace and insignificant materials. The part was cast for Laschi, whom Sonnenfels[25] praises as a cultivated artist, and a buffo actor of the most refined and intelligent type. He still played first lover's parts, but was much commiserated on account of the loss of certain notes of his voice, a defect which he sought to hide by transposing airs and passages. Simone is an ordinary valet, blunt rather than rude, and merry, all which is well represented by the music, the part seldom rising, however, above the ordinary buffo level. Most genial and telling is the song(13)-- Con certe persone Vuol esser bastone-- {NINETTA--SOLO SONGS.} (83) and the concluding refrain "Madama, bastone!" is pretty and comical. Poggi, who took the servants' and peasants' parts, possessed a fine bass voice and correct execution, together with a charming style of acting, and was the favourite of connoisseurs.[26] The character most devoid of colour is that of Ninetta, and we find in it no foretaste of a Susannah or a Despina. It can only have been intended for Bemasconi, who had made a great sensation as Sandrina in Piccini's "Buona Figliola," and in Sacchini's "Contadina in Corte."[27] It is indicative of the healthiness of Mozart's genius that some of the songs for these less important personages were rewritten several times, no doubt at the request of the performers.[28] Where any natural emotion or characteristic situation is to be represented, his judgment is at once correct and decided; but in unimportant matters he is ready to yield to the wishes of the singers and the public, and to attempt various modes of expression in search of what is pleasing and harmonious. In accordance with the prevailing fashion, solo songs abound in this opera; each character has two or three, Rosine has four, and the total number amounts to twenty. The majority are formed on the same model, the usual one of the day. They have a long ritomello, and consist of two movements, differing in time, measure, and key, which are generally both repeated; each movement is woven into one long thread, the motifs being sometimes repeated, but never really worked out. This clumsy form gives few opportunities for dramatic effect, and is especially adapted for the singer who is desirous of displaying his own, As a matter of course, those songs which have most originality disregard such rules, and their form is rounder, {THE FIRST OPERA IN VIENNA.} (84)