Il Signor Bruschino

by Gioachino Rossini (1792 - 1868).

Farsa giocosa in one act. 1813. Libretto by Giuseppe Maria Foppa, after Alissan de Chazet and E.-T. Maurice Ourry's play Le fils par hasard, ou Ruse et folie (The Son by Chance, or Trickery and Folly). First performance at the Teatro S Moisè. Venice, on 27th January 1813.

A witty comedy, Il Signor Bruschino, ossia Il figlio per azzardo (Signor Bruschino, or The Son by Chance) opens with an overture to match.

Sofia and Florville are in love, but Sofia's guardian, Gaudenzio, is against the match. He is an enemy of Florville's father and when matters seem easier, with the latter's death, he presents a further obstacle, having promised Sofia to the son of his old friend Signor Bruschino. Florville impersonates young Bruschino, detained for an unpaid tavern bill, which Florville has actually settled on his behalf, and the complications that arise when old Bruschino appears are eventually solved when Signor Bruschino is induced to accept Florville as his son, for the present purposes, although well aware of the whole situation.