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Argumentative young Venetian fellow-about-town [[Don Iolio Contrario]] is employed as an operations manager by his father [[Don Figaro Contrario]] in his struggling spice brokerage. | Argumentative young Venetian fellow-about-town [[Don Iolio Contrario]] is employed as an operations manager by his father [[Don Figaro Contrario]] in his struggling spice brokerage. | ||
Being obsessed with cost control and anxious to be seen as a great financial innovator, [[Don Figaro]] has invested in a “homunculus” — a steam-powered computation machine — which will take over the role of the brokers at a fraction of the cost, and with far greater speed and accuracy. | Being obsessed with cost control and anxious to be seen as a great financial innovator, [[Don Figaro]] has invested in a “homunculus” — a steam-powered computation machine — which will take over the role of the brokers at a fraction of the cost, and with far greater speed and accuracy. | ||
Don Figaro, a vain and stupid man, is exasperated at his errant son and chides him for his romantic and impractical world-view. By way of punishment, he consigns [[Don Iolio]] to work in the boiler-room among the brokers. In the rousing<ref>Buchstein ''meant'' it to be rousing, but contemporaneous records suggest audiences found it too loud, rather tuneless and a bit repetitive.</ref> aria ''Niente malattia! Niente vacanze! Niente ora di pranzo!''<ref>“No sickness! No holidays! No lunch-hours!”</ref> Don Figaro, alone on stage, wails, “There you will see how valuable these good-for-nothing spice merchant are! They waste my money! They occupy my valuable resources! My new homunculus will not get sick! It will take no vacations! It will take no lunch-breaks!” | But, his son [[Don Iolio]] rebuffs him, saying, “surely you of all people should know, spice broking is a [[complex]] business, and no mechanical contraption could possibly replace the skill or judgment of an experienced broker? The machine will be hopeless, and a far greater burden on his operation than any benefit it could possibly bring”: “''Quella macchina parlante ottusa!''” <ref>“That dim-witted chatbot!”</ref> | ||
[[Don Figaro]], a vain and stupid man, is exasperated at his errant son and chides him for his romantic and impractical world-view. By way of punishment, he consigns [[Don Iolio]] to work in the boiler-room among the brokers. In the rousing<ref>Buchstein ''meant'' it to be rousing, but contemporaneous records suggest audiences found it too loud, rather tuneless and a bit repetitive.</ref> aria ''Niente malattia! Niente vacanze! Niente ora di pranzo!''<ref>“No sickness! No holidays! No lunch-hours!”</ref> Don Figaro, alone on stage, wails, “There you will see how valuable these good-for-nothing spice merchant are! They waste my money! They occupy my valuable resources! My new homunculus will not get sick! It will take no vacations! It will take no lunch-breaks!” | |||
Disregarding [[Don Iolio]]’s warnings, [[Don Figaro]] rushes in, impulsively, securing the homunculus, so he thinks, before his devious rival [[Don Inago Montega]] can get it. But [[Don Inago]] has tricked [[Don Figaro]] into a buying the machine, for which he takes out a long-term loan, from Don Inago, at usurious prices. [[Don Inago]] has configured it to perform badly and to cripple Don Figaro's business. | Disregarding [[Don Iolio]]’s warnings, [[Don Figaro]] rushes in, impulsively, securing the homunculus, so he thinks, before his devious rival [[Don Inago Montega]] can get it. But [[Don Inago]] has tricked [[Don Figaro]] into a buying the machine, for which he takes out a long-term loan, from Don Inago, at usurious prices. [[Don Inago]] has configured it to perform badly and to cripple Don Figaro's business. | ||