cabaletta

noun

ca·​ba·​let·​ta ˌka-bə-ˈle-tə 

ˌkä-

1

: an operatic song in simple popular style characterized by a uniform rhythm

2

: the lively bravura concluding section of an extended aria or duet

Examples of cabaletta in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This was a problematic choice, particularly since the heroine, Pia, in her dying cabaletta, begs the two groups, led respectively by her husband and her brother, to make peace, which seems historically unlikely. —Heidi Waleson, WSJ, 29 May 2018

The chorus had to stand around staring cluelessly at deeply personal outpourings of grief; almost every aria—a slow cavatina followed by a fast cabaletta—was interrupted by some startling piece of news to justify the radical change of mood. —Heidi Waleson, WSJ, 29 May 2018

The traditional cut of the duke’s cabaletta in Act II was observed, but other standard cuts were restored. —John Von Rhein, chicagotribune.com, 8 Oct. 2017

And Mr. Hymel dispatched with exciting fervor the brilliant cabaletta in Act IV when Arnold vows to avenge his father, killed by the Austrians, and rally the Swiss resistance, nailing all the high C’s. —Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, 18 Oct. 2016

Word History

Etymology

Italian

First Known Use

1842, in the meaning defined at sense 1