color, he urged. When about to start his song, Garcia found that he
had forgotten to tune his guitar. He began to set the pegs in the
face of the waiting public. A string broke, and a new one was drawn
up amid the titters of the spectators. The song did not please the
auditors, who mocked at the singer by humming Spanish fiorituri
after him. Boisterous laughter broke out when Figaro came on the
stage also with a guitar, and "Largo al factotum" was lost in the
din. Another howl of delighted derision went up when Rosina's
voice was heard singing within: "Segui o caro, deh segui cosi"
("Continue, my dear, continue thus"). The audience continued "thus."
The representative of Rosina was popular, but the fact that she
was first heard in a trifling phrase instead of an aria caused
disappointment. The duet, between Almaviva and Figaro, was sung amid
hisses, shrieks, and shouts. The cavatina "Una voce poco fa" got a
triple round of applause, however, and Rossini, interpreting the
fact as a compliment to the personality of the singer rather than
to the music, after bowing to the public, exclaimed: "Oh natura!"
"Thank her," retorted Giorgi-Righetti; "but for her you would not
have had occasion to rise from your choir." The turmoil began again
with the next duet, and the finale was mere dumb show. When the
curtain fell, Rossini faced the mob, shrugged his shoulders, and
clapped his hands to show his contempt. Only the musicians and
singers heard the second act, the din being incessant from beginning
to end. Rossini remained imperturbable, and when Giorgi-Rhigetti,
Garcia, and Zamboni hastened to his lodgings to offer their
condolences as soon as they could don street attire, they found him
asleep. The next day he wrote the cavatina "Ecco ridente in cielo"
to take the place of Garcia's unlucky Spanish song, borrowing the
air from his own "Aureliano," composed two years before, into
which it had been incorporated from "Ciro," a still earlier work.