The characters in the opera The Visitors are escaping the Black Death by sheltering in a villa outside what city
The Decameron The Decameron (Italian: "Decameron" ] or "Decamerone" ] ), subtitled "Prince Galehaut" (Old Italian: "Prencipe Galeotto" ] ), is a collection of novellas by the 14th-century Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375). The book is structured as a frame story containing 100 tales told by a group of seven young women and three young men sheltering in a secluded villa just outside Florence to escape the Black Death, which was afflicting the city. Boccaccio probably conceived the "Decameron" after the epidemic of 1348, and completed it by 1353. The various tales of love in "The Decameron" range from the erotic to the tragic. Tales of wit, practical jokes, and life lessons contribute to the mosaic. In addition to its literary value and widespread influence (for example on Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales"), it provides a document of life at the time. Written in the vernacular of the Florentine language, it is considered a masterpiece of classical early Italian prose.
Il burbero di buon cuore Il burbero di buon cuore ("The Good-Hearted Curmudgeon") is an opera dramma giocoso in two acts by Vicente Martín y Soler. The Italian libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte is based on the French comedy "Le bourru bienfaisant" by Carlo Goldoni. The opera premiered on January 4, 1786 in Vienna at the Burgtheater with a cast that included three well known Viennese singers of the day: Nancy Storace as Angelica, Francesco Benucci as Ferramondo, and Maria Mandini as Marina. The opera premiered in the same year and at the same house as Mozart's "Le nozze di Figaro", and both operas enjoyed revivals at the Burgtheater three years later — each boasting two new arias for new leading ladies. The new arias for "Il burbero di buon cuore" (""Chi sa, chi sa, qual sia"" K. 582 in Act I and ""Vado, ma dove?"" K. 583 in Act II, both for Lucilla) were actually composed by Mozart, as Martín y Soler had left Vienna to work at the court of Catherine the Great in St. Petersburg. The opera recently received its first modern revival in 2007 at the Teatro Real in Madrid, a performance which was videotaped live and released on DVD in 2009.