The prologue deliberately aims to deprive us of the thrill of surprise at the unexpected denouement, simply that he may tell us what we already know as well as he, that an actor is a human being.
Plainly then, from a didactic point of view, this prologue is a gratuitous impertinence.

Not so its music.

Structurally, it is little more than a loose-jointed pot-pourri; but it serves the purpose of a thematic catalogue to the chief melodic incidents of the play which is to follow.

In this it bears a faint resemblance to the introduction to Berlioz's "Romeo and Juliet" symphony.

It begins with an energetic figure, [figure: a musical score excerpt] which is immediately followed by an upward scale-passage with a saucy flourish at the end--not unlike the crack of a whiplash:-- [figure: a musical score excerpt] It helps admirably to picture the bustling activity of the festa into which we are soon to be precipitated.