The Development of Italian Comic Opera in the 18th Century

This paper takes Italian opera buffa as the research object, and focuses on analyzing the artistic characteristics of Italian opera buffa. It analyzes the famous Italian opera buffa composers and their works in the 18th century. Italian opera buffa emerged in the 18th century, and this genre is characterized by satire, humor, and secular life, which contrasts sharply with the solemn and dignified grand opera of that time. The second part explains the rise of opera buffa from the perspective of the gradual decline of grand opera; the third part describes the process of opera buffa reaching its peak in the second half of the 18th century, while the fourth part lists Mozart's innovations in the themes and techniques of Italian opera buffa, to prove the uniqueness of Mozart's creation of Italian opera buffa. The whole article provides a historical overview of the decline of grand opera, the birth of opera buffa, the period of change, and the period of prosperity, and tries to prove that the rise of opera buffa represents that truly great art belongs to the people, entertaining the masses while inspiring people to think more deeply.