title: Il ratto della sposa
text: # Il ratto della sposa
  
  Il ratto della sposa (The Kidnapped Fiancée) is an opera buffa in three acts by Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi. The Italian libretto was by Gaetano Martinelli.
  
  ## Performance history
  
  It was first performed at the Teatro San Moisè in Venice in the autumn of 1765. A revised version was staged in London in 1768. The opera was successful and there were productions in succeeding decades, some entitled Lo sposo rapita or Il vecchio deluso.
  
  ## Roles
  
  | Cast | Voice type |
  | - | - |
  | Gaudenzio, a spendthrift | tenor |
  | Aurora, Gaudenzio's sister, in love with Gentilino | mezzo-soprano |
  | Donna Ortensia, Gaudenzio's employer, with designs on her employee | soprano |
  | Dorina, Donna Ortensia's maid, attracted to Gaudenzio | soprano |
  | Gentilino | tenor |
  | Polidoro, a rich old man | tenor |
  | Biondino, Polidoro's nephew | tenor |
  