Parable Aria

A type of ARIA, much in vogue in the 18th century, in which the singer expresses emotion by way of parable or metaphor. A famous example is the protestation of one of the ladies in WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART'S COSÌ FAN TUTTE (1790) that she would remain as firm as a rock in resisting temptation. The rock is the crux of the metaphor in the parable.