Background
Bizet spent three years in Italy, 1857 to 1860, as winner of the Prix de Rome. Looking for inspiration for a work to send home, he found the subject for his opera buffa in a second-hand bookstall in Rome, writing home that the piece was "an Italian farce in the manner of Don Pasquale" by Carlo Cambiaggio (1798-1880). The words were a reduced version of I pretendenti delusi (1811) by Giuseppe Mosca (1772-1839).
Composition was sporadic over the winter of 1858-59; Bizet confessed that he was still trying to find his voice, although he intentionally aimed at an Italian style for this piece. The report from the Prix de Rome judges noted advances, but a later report signed by Ambroise Thomas criticised Bizet for sending an 'opéra bouffe' as his first envoi and suggested he divert his attention away from this toward sacred music (although Bizet failed to submit a religious envoi of any sort from Rome).
Read more about this topic: Don Procopio
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