Ruperto Chapí had considerable suc- cess with a string of three-act zarzuelas grandes in the 1880s and was cultivating the string quartet at the end of his life, but remains best known for his género chico hits. La revoltosa (1897, the same year as La boda de Luis Alonso) is a sort of low-life Madrid Much Ado About Nothing, cen- tered on a bickering couple who are finally brought together by the machinations of their friends and neighbors. In typical fash- ion, its vigorous Prelude is based on the main themes to come.

— John Henken