Gioachino Rossini on Music Theory Print

Adelaide di Borgogna

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

20th century and beyond Performances have included concert versions with Della Jones as Ottone and Eiddwen Harrhy as Adelaide given at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in November 1978, and another at Usher Hall in Edinburgh on 19 August 2005 with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Chorus with Jennifer Larmore as Ottone and Majella Cullagh as Adelaide. The Festival della Valle d’Itria in Martina Franca in Italy presented staged performances in August 1984, with Ottone sung by Martine Dupuy and Adelaide by Mariella Devia. In addition, the Rossini Opera Festival staged it in Pesaro in August 2006, with Daniela Barcellona and Patrizia Ciofi singing the roles of Ottone and Adelaide respectively and it was presented again in a new production in 2011, also with Barcellona as well as Jessica Pratt in the title role.

Adina (opera)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition history#

Adina was commissioned in 1818 by Diego Ignazio de Pina Manique, police superintendent of Lisbon and inspector of Portuguese theatres. Not all of the music is entirely original. According to the 2001 critical edition of the score by Fabrizio della Seta, “Rossini composed anew only four of the work’s nine numbers: the Introduction, the disarming Cavatina for Adina “Fragolette fortunate” (Lucky little strawberries), the Quartet, and the Finale; for three others he turned to the opera Sigismondo written in 1814; the remaining two were written by a collaborator.”

Armida (Rossini)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

Armida was written to be performed at the Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, on 11 November 1817 to celebrate the opening of the rebuilt opera house, which had been destroyed by fire the previous year. Isabella Colbran sang the title role, which is one of the longest and most demanding that Rossini wrote, with difficult coloratura passages of every kind during the entire opera. The most notable are to be found in “D’amore al dolce impero” during act 2, in the duets between Armida and Rinaldo, and in parts of the act 3 finale. The first modern staging took place at the Teatro Comunale of Florence on 26 April 1952, during the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, with Maria Callas and Francesco Albanese in the leading roles and Tullio Serafin conducting. Performances were given in Aix-en-Provence in 1988, with June Anderson, Rockwell Blake, Raúl Giménez, under conductor Gianfranco Masini, and at the Rossini Opera Festival in 1993, with Renée Fleming and Gregory Kunde, under conductor Daniele Gatti. The United States premiere was given in Tulsa, Oklahoma on 29 February 1992 in celebration of the 200th anniversary of Rossini’s birth with a cast that included Christine Weidinger in the title role, Thomas Young as Rinaldo, and Ronald Naldi as Ubaldo. The Metropolitan Opera premiere took place on 12 April 2010, with Renée Fleming in the title role. Armida was performed at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro in August 2014 in a new production by Luca Ronconi.

Aureliano in Palmira

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

19th century Aureliano in Palmira was Rossini’s second commission from La Scala. It opened the theatre’s Carnival season with the famed castrato, Giovanni Battista Velluti as Arsace. It was the only role that Rossini wrote for the castrato voice. Rossini had originally written the role of Aureliano for Giovanni David, one of the most renowned tenors of the day. However, throat problems during rehearsals led David to withdraw from the production, and Luigi Mari took his place. The popular soprano, Lorenza Correa, sang the role of Queen Zenobia. The orchestra at the premiere was conducted by Alessandro Rolla, with the staging directed by Alessandro Sanquirico. The opera’s opening night proved disappointing to the Milanese critics who praised the production but considered the music inferior to that of Rossini’s Tancredi which had premiered in Venice earlier that year. There was also criticism of the three principal singers. Nevertheless, it had a run of 14 performances at La Scala that season and was performed sporadically in various Italian theatres (including the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples) between 1814 and 1831. It was also performed in London in 1826, again with Velluti as Arsace. The opera then fell more or less into obscurity. 20th century and beyond Its first modern performance was in September 1980 at the in Genoa conducted by Giacomo Zani, with Paolo Barbacini as Aureliano, Helga Müller-Molinari as Arsace, and Luciana Serra as Zenobia. There was another major revival in 1996 at the Rossini in Wildbad Festival conducted by Francesco Corti, with Donald George as Aureliano, Angelo Manzotti as Arsace, and Tatiana Korovina as Zenobia. It was performed again in 2011 in Martina Franca and was given a new production at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro in August 2014. The Pesaro production, conducted by Will Crutchfield and directed by Mario Martone, was the first performance of the critical edition of the opera, which Crutchfield prepared.

Bianca e Falliero

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

The opera premiered on 26 December 1819 at La Scala. Giuseppe Fioravanti, a popular basso buffo of the day and the son of composer Valentino Fioravanti, sang in the premiere. Carolina Bassi, Italian contralto considered one of the best in her day, also created a role in this opera. The opera is considered very difficult to sing due to the intensity of its coloratura writing.

Synopsis#

Bianca e Falliero is a tale of emotional excess and bitter strife within war-threatened Venice. Falliero, the hero, comes home after defeating the enemies of Venice only to find his beloved Bianca promised to a rival and soon to be married. :Place: Venice :Time: 17th Century

Ciro in Babilonia

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

In a concert form, the work’s UK premiere took place on 30 January 1823 at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London. The quasi-opera premiered in the United States on 7 July 2012 at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts as part of the Festival, starring contralto Ewa Podleś in the title role, tenor Michael Spyres as Baldassare (Belshazzar), and soprano Jessica Pratt as Amira, with Will Crutchfield conducting. Performances with the same principal singers opened in a more elaborate staging on 10 August 2012 at the Rossini Festival in Pesaro.

Demetrio e Polibio

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Synopsis#

:Time: 2nd Century, B.C. :Place: Parthia

Act 1#

The good Polybius, King of Parthia, is the protector of both his own daughter Lisinga and her lover Siveno. Everyone believes Siveno to be the son of Minteus, a minister of King Demetrius of Syria, but he is actually the long estranged son of Demetrius. Demetrius, holding Minteus responsible for his son’s disappearance, arrives at the court of Parthia in the guise of Eumeno, a royal messenger, and demands that Siveno be turned over to Syria. Polybius refuses. Siveno and Lisinga celebrate their marriage. Polybius confides to Siveno that he is worried about what has happened, but Siveno reassures him. Meanwhile, Eumene (Demetrius) plots to kidnap Siveno and bring him back to Syria. He bribes the servants and guards and at night manages to enter the Parthian court. However, when he arrives in the bed-chamber of the young couple, he finds Lisinga alone and kidnaps her instead. Polybius and Siveno try in vain to stop him.

Eduardo e Cristina

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

The opera received productions elsewhere in Europe up to 1840, but after that they seem to have been very rare.

Synopsis#

:Place: Sweden :Time: “The distant past” Eduardo, commander of the Swedish army, brings news of peace and is greeted triumphantly by King Carlo in Stockholm. That same day, the king announces that his daughter, Cristina, is to be married to Prince Giacomo of Scotland. Cristina, however, is already secretly Eduardo’s wife, and together they have a young son, Gustavo. Christina makes plans to escape, but during the wedding preparations little Gustavo is discovered. Cristina proclaims herself his mother, though she will not reveal the father’s name. When Eduardo appears, he reveals himself to be the boy’s father, and the illicit couple are led off to prison. Cristina continues to refuse a proposal of marriage to Giacomo, even though he has agreed to recognize Gustavo as his own son. Eventually Eduardo is freed by his friend and comrade in arms, Captain Atlei, and together they defeat a surprise attack by the Russians. After the battle, Eduardo hands his sword to King Carlo who, touched, forgives the couple and grants them his blessing.

Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

The opera was first given in the UK on 30 April 1818 at the King’s Theatre in London.

Synopsis#

:Time: Reign of Elizabeth I :Place: London

Act 1#

Throne Room of Whitehall Palace, The Earl of Leicester is celebrating his victory over the Scots. The Duke of Norfolk, who is also present, scowls with jealousy. The Queen enters: (Aria: Quant’è grato all’alma mia). Leicester is honored, and says he has brought home the sons of nobility as hostages. However, he recognizes his wife, Matilda, and her brother, Enrico, as belonging to that group. When they are alone, Leicester reproaches his wife (Duet: Incauta, che festi?). Because she is the daughter of Mary, Queen of the Scots, she is in danger. Matilda tells Leicester that the Queen loves him as well. She mourns her ill fortune: (Aria: Sento un’interna voce). Leicester decides that, to avoid suspicion, he will speak to neither Matilda nor to her brother, Enrico. Royal apartments Instead, Leicester tells Norfolk of his secret marriage and Norfolk, in turn, tells the Queen: (Duet: Perché mai, destin crudele). She reacts to the news in fury. The hostages and Leicester are sent for. The Queen offers to make him consort, and, upon his refusal, she accuses him of treason, and has both him and Matilda arrested.

Ermione

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

19th century Ermione was first performed at the Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, on 27 March 1819. For reasons that are as yet unclear, the opera was withdrawn on 19 April after only seven performances, and was not seen again until over a hundred years after Rossini’s death. One possible explanation for its failure might be Rossini’s choice to renounce the use of secco recitative in favour of accompanied declamation and to connect each closed number to the next in a manner reminiscent of Gluck’s French operas and of Spontini (the latter was also to have a huge influence on Weber’s Euryanthe, four years later). Despite the opera’s failure, Rossini seemed to be quite fond of this work and kept its manuscript, along with a few others from his Neapolitan years, until his death. The autograph score was then delivered by the widow, Olympe Pélissier, to Eugène Lecomte who entrusted it to the Bibliothèque Musée de l’Opéra de Paris. Eventually, a concert performance was given in Siena in August 1977. In old age, when asked if he would have liked Ermione to be translated and produced on French stages, the composer is reported to have replied: “It’s my little Italian Guillaume Tell; and it will not see the light of day until after my death.” 20th century and beyond The first modern staging was at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro on 22 August 1987, with Montserrat Caballé, Marilyn Horne, Chris Merritt and Rockwell Blake. In Britain, a concert performance took place at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 10 April 1992, and the first staging was at Glyndebourne on 22 May 1995. In the US, a concert performance was given at the San Francisco Opera on 26 June 1992, and the opera was first staged by Opera Omaha on 11 September 1992 in a production by Jonathan Miller. Other stagings of Ermione in recent years have taken place in Naples (1988 and 2019), Madrid, Rome (1991), Buenos Aires (1992) and Santa Fe (2000). The New York City Opera and Dallas Opera joined together to mount a production in 2004. A concert performance of Ermione was presented at Palacio de le Ópera A Coruña in June 2015 conducted by Alberto Zedda and starring Angela Meade (Ermione), Michael Spyres (Pirro), Barry Banks (Oreste) and Marianna Pizzolato (Andromaca). The first German stage production was presented at Volkstheater Rostock on 5 March 2016 conducted by David Parry and starring Gulnara Shafigullina (Ermione), Paul Nilon (Pirro), Ashley Catling (Oreste) and Jasmin Etezadzadeh (Andromaca).

Il signor Bruschino

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

The opera was not performed in North America or in Britain until the 20th century. Its New York premiere took place at the Metropolitan Opera on 9 December, 1932, and it was first seen in England (in an amateur staging by the Kent Opera Group) on 14 July, 1960. Other performances have taken place in Italy and elsewhere in Europe, in particular, stagings in Paris and Macerata in 1992.

Il turco in Italia

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

Il turco in Italia was first performed in La Scala, Milan, on 14 August 1814. It was given in London at His Majesty’s Theatre on 19 May 1822 with Giuseppe de Begnis and Giuseppina de Begnis. It was first staged in New York City at the Park Theatre on 14 March 1826 with Maria Malibran, Manuel García Senior, Manuel García Junior, Barbieri, Crivelli, Rosich and Agrisani. In 1950 it was revived in Rome at the Teatro Eliseo with Maria Callas. In 1955 Callas again starred as Fiorilla, this time at the Teatro alla Scala where the opera was produced by Franco Zeffirelli. In later years Fiorilla has been sung by Cecilia Bartoli.

Il viaggio a Reims

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

Il viaggio a Reims was first performed at the Théâtre Italien’s Salle Louvois, Paris, on 19 June 1825, with Giuditta Pasta as Corinna. There were only four original performances. It was expensive to stage, but Rossini resisted moving it to the larger Salle Lepeletier with the potential of raising more money, because he had learned that his operas Mosè in Egitto and La donna del lago were more effective in smaller theatres. The different parts of the manuscript, assumed lost, were re-found and re-assembled in the 1970s by the musicologist Janet Johnson, with the help of Philip Gossett. The first performance after the reconstruction was given at the Rossini Opera Festival on 18 August 1984. It was conducted by Claudio Abbado and directed by Luca Ronconi. The cast included Francisco Araiza (Conte di Libenskof), Lella Cuberli (Contessa di Folleville), Enzo Dara (Barone di Trombonok), Cecilia Gasdia (Corinna), Eduardo Gimenez (Cavalier Belfiore), William Matteuzzi (Zefirino), Leo Nucci (Don Alvaro), Ruggero Raimondi (Don Profondo), Samuel Ramey (Lord Sidney), Katia Ricciarelli (Madama Cortese), and Lucia Valentini Terrani (Marchesa Melibea). Other performances have followed. The American premiere was given on 14 June 1986 by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis at the Loretto-Hilton Theater in St. Louis, directed by Colin Graham and conducted by Richard Buckley. In 1992, The Royal Opera, London, gave several performances: Carlo Rizzi conducted, and the cast included Montserrat Caballé, Renée Fleming, Sylvia McNair, John Aler and Andrew Shore. In Helsinki, on 9 January 2003, the opera was directed by Dario Fo and conducted by Pietro Rizzo. The Polish premiere was given in April 2003, directed by Tomasz Konina, with, among others, Ewa Podleś as Marchesa Melibea and Rockwell Blake as Count Libenskoff (Alberto Zedda conducted). In November 2005 there was another production in Monte Carlo, with a cast including June Anderson, Raùl Gimenez, Rockwell Blake, and Ruggero Raimondi. The Wiener Staatsoper produced the opera in its Rossini Festival conducted by Claudio Abbado, with Montserrat Caballé and again Ruggero Raimondi. The Kirov Opera performed it at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, in January 2007. The work was produced in Tel Aviv by the Israeli Opera in November 2007. The African premiere was presented by the University of Cape Town in collaboration with Cape Town Opera in 2010. The South American premiere was presented by the Teatro Argentino de La Plata, Argentina, in 2011. During the 2011/12 season, productions were given by the Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp in December, where the action took place inside a jumbo jet, and at the Teatro Comunale, Florence, in January where the action was staged in an early 20th-century luxury spa. Damiano Michieletto directed the opera, set in an art gallery, for the Dutch National Opera in 2015 and for the Royal Danish Opera in 2017. This production was also used for the Australian premiere at the Arts Centre Melbourne and the Sydney Opera House in 2019 for Opera Australia with Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Conal Coad, John Longmuir; Daniel Smith conducted the Orchestra Victoria.

Ivanhoé

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Recordings#

*Rossini: Ivanhoé – Simon Edwards (Ivanhoé), Inga Balabanova (Leila), Soon-Won Kang (Brian de Boisguilbert), Filippo Morace (Ismaele), Massimiliano Chiarolla (Cedric); Bratislava Chamber Choir and the Orchestra Internazionale d’Italia conducted by Paolo Arrivabeni. Live recording from the 2001 performance at the Festival della Valle d’Itria. Label: Dynamic CDS397

External links#

*Complete score at the International Music Score Library Project

L'equivoco stravagante

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

L’equivoco stravagante was first performed at the Teatro del Corso, Bologna, on 26 October 1811. It was only performed three times before the police closed the production down, possibly because the text touched on the subject of army desertion. The music of the overture was subsequently lost. The opera was first produced in the United States (in English translation as The Bizarre Deception) by the Bronx Opera in January 2004.

L'inganno felice

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

By the end of the 1810s it had been heard in theatres throughout Italy as well as in Paris and London. Following this triumph, Rossini was commissioned to write three more operas by the manager of the Teatro San Moisè. L’inganno felice was performed at La Fenice in Venice in September 2014.

Synopsis#

Before the action begins, the villainous Ormondo was in love with Isabella, who was happily married to Duke Bertrando, but, when she rejected his advances, Ormondo spread vicious rumours about her reputation and bribed Batone into casting her adrift in a boat on the sea. However, she was rescued by a local miner, Tarabotto, who then disguised her as his niece, Nisa. :Time: The distant past :Place: A seaside mining village in Italy The opera begins ten years after her rescue. Duke Bertrando is due to visit the mines. Isabella, who is still in love with her husband, finally reveals her true identity to Tarabotto who promises to help her. The duke arrives with Ormondo and Batone. The duke is still in love with his wife even though he believes the rumours that she had been unfaithful to him. Batone catches sight of “Nisa” and realises she is Isabella in disguise. He plots with Ormondo to abduct her that night, but Tarabotto overhears their plan. Before they can kidnap Isabella, the two villains are unmasked and “Nisa”’s true story is revealed when she shows everyone her duchess’ clothes and a portrait of the duke she has kept with her. Bertrando and Isabella are reunited.

L'italiana in Algeri

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition history#

Rossini wrote L’italiana in Algeri when he was 21. Rossini stated that he composed the opera in 18 days, though other sources claim that it took him 27 days. Rossini entrusted the composition of the recitatives as well as the aria “Le femmine d’Italia” to an unknown collaborator. The opera is notable for Rossini’s mixing of opera seria style with opera buffa. The overture is widely recorded and performed today, known for its distinct opening of slow, quiet pizzicato basses, leading to a sudden loud burst of sound from the full orchestra. This “surprise” reflects Rossini’s early admiration for Joseph Haydn, whose Symphony No. 94 in G major, “The Surprise Symphony”, is so named for the same shocking and semi-comic effect.

L'occasione fa il ladro

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

19th century L’occasione fa il ladro was first performed at the Teatro San Moisè, Venice, on 24 November 1812. Of the five one-act operas that he wrote for the theatre, this was the one performed most often during the composer’s lifetime but it was neglected after his death. There was, however, a revival at Pesaro in 1892 celebrating the hundredth anniversary of his birth there on 29 February 1792, with Alessandro Bonci. 20th century and beyond The opera was given at the Théâtre Nouveau in Nice in 1983 ), in Paris, in Cologne and in the Schlosstheater Schwetzingen". In April 1991 it was presented at the Politeama Garibaldi in Palermo, conducted by Antonello Allemandi with the orchestra and chorus of the Teatro Massimo. Rockwell Blake sang Count Alberto. A performance under Gianluigi Gelmetti with the Stuttgarter Rundfunkorchester was given in 1992, the cast including Susan Patterson and Alessandro Corbelli. In Britain, Opera North presented a number of English-language performances in 2004 as part of their Eight Little Greats season. The opera was entitled Love’s Luggage Lost, and the production was directed by Christopher Alden and conducted by David Parry. The opera was presented in September 2017 at La Fenice, directed by Elisabetta Brusa, in collaboration with the Venetian Accademia di Belle Arti.

La Boutique fantasque

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Story#

The ballet is set in France in 1860. A world-famous toymaker has created exquisite dancing dolls in his magic toyshop. The automata perform various dance routines for the prospective customers. At first the toys entertain two English ladies and an American family. Some dolls perform a tarantella for the guests, followed by other dolls dressed as playing cards who dance a mazurka. Then two dolls come in and perform another routine involving a snob and a melon vendor. New customers arrive, a Russian family, and everyone welcomes them. Five Cossack dolls enter and perform a traditional dance, followed by an animal act featuring two dancing poodles.

La cambiale di matrimonio

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Synopsis#

:Place: London, the chambers of Tobias Mill : 18th Century The servants Norton and Clarina discuss a letter which has arrived for their master, Tobias Mill, regarding an impending marriage contract from a Canadian businessman, Slook, who is due to arrive later that day. Mill enters, flustered from calculating the distance from the Americas to Europe, and orders the household to prepare for Slook’s arrival, including the readying of his daughter, Fanny, whom he intends to marry off to the foreigner. After everyone leaves, Fanny arrives with her lover, Edoardo Milfort; their love has been kept a secret from Mill due to Edoardo’s poor financial status. Norton enters and informs the lovers of the impending marriage contract, but their conversation is interrupted by Mill’s entrance as the carriage arrives bearing the Canadian. Slook enters harassed by the servants who are trying to take his coat: he is clearly unaccustomed to European greetings. Mill encourages Slook to talk to Fanny and to get to know her, but she remains quite hostile, trying to express her disinterest in marrying him with many “but’s”. However, she is soon joined by Edoardo, and they both threaten to cut out Slook’s eyes and puncture his veins. Slook departs to the safety of his room, Fanny and Edoardo to other quarters, as Clarina and Norton return. Before Slook comes back, Clarina expresses her experiences with love and, then upon his return, Norton informs him that the goods he is interested in acquiring are already mortgaged. Infuriated by this contractual double-crossing, Slook refuses to buy Fanny and tells Mill this. However, he refuses to give a reason fearing retribution from the lovers. Mill then threatens Slook with the prospect of a duel for refusing to carry through with the contract he has incurred. Having encountered three people who wish him dead within hours of his arrival in London, Slook prepares to leave and, when he returns from packing his belongings, he sees Fanny and Edoardo embracing, catching them red-handed, but they tell him about Mill’s business-managerial sentiments toward marriage and of Edoardo’s poor financial status; Slook responds by promising to make Edoardo his heir so that Fanny may be his. Mill returns and prepares for his duel, although he fears that, if he dies, it may reflect poorly upon his reputation in the market. Slook reveals himself and clandestinely replaces a pistol with a peace pipe which Mill grabs, not realizing what it is. As they head to the field of battle (Slook armed with a pistol, Mill with a pipe), the ensemble rushes in and tries to convince Mill to give up the financial pretensions. Finally Slook convinces Mill to allow the couple to marry and all ends happily.

La Cenerentola

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition history#

According to the account given by librettist Jacopo Ferretti, the genesis of this work – whose literary and musical aspects were both created with surprising speed – began in December 1816. Rossini was in Rome and tasked with writing a new opera for the Teatro Valle, to be staged on Saint Stephen’s Day. An existing libretto, Francesca di Foix, had unexpectedly been vetoed by the papal censor, leaving no time to amend the text so that it might satisfy all parties involved (censorship, impresario, and authors). A replacement would have to be found. Ferretti, despite harboring some ill-will against Rossini (the maestro had refused a libretto of his for The Barber of Seville), nonetheless met with the composer and the impresario Cartoni and agreed to join the project. However, when he began to suggest topics for the new work, one after another was rejected: too serious for the Carnival season in which the opera would premiere; too frivolous; too expensive and difficult to stage. Ferretti proposed more than two dozen subjects without success. Finally, between yawns, and with Rossini half asleep on a sofa, the poet mentioned Cinderella. At this, Rossini roused himself sufficiently to challenge Ferretti on whether he dared write a libretto for the tale; Ferretti retorted with a dare for Rossini to clothe it in music. Rossini then asked the librettist if he had some verses ready to start working on. Ferretti replied, “despite my tiredness, tomorrow morning!” The composer nodded, wrapped himself in his clothes, and fell asleep. Ferretti worked through the night and had the first parts of the work ready as promised in the morning. He finished the libretto in twenty-two days of breakneck work, and Rossini completed the score in an equally hectic twenty-four days. Rossini saved some time by reusing an overture from and part of an aria from The Barber of Seville and by enlisting a collaborator, Luca Agolini, who wrote the secco recitatives and three numbers (Alidoro’s “”, Clorinda’s "" and the chorus “”). The poet had serious doubts about the success of this opera; Rossini, on the other hand, predicted that it would conquer Italy in a year and spread to France and England in another: “the impresarios will fight for staging it, as well as the prima donnas for being able to sing it”. La Cenerentola premiered on 25 January 1817, and quickly gained popularity both in Italy and internationally, despite a cold initial reception by the critics. In short, Rossini’s prediction came entirely true, and Cenerentola soon overshadowed even Barber throughout the nineteenth century. The facsimile edition of the autograph has a different aria for Alidoro, “”; this seems to have been added by an anonymous hand for an 1818 production. For an 1820 revival in Rome, Rossini wrote a bravura replacement, “”. Despite La Cenerentolas success, the collaboration between composer and librettist got no easier, and Ferretti wrote only one more libretto for Rossini, Matilde di Shabran, in 1821.

La Danza

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

La donna del lago

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition history#

The period between La gazza ladra (1817) and Semiramide (1823) was marked by the production of twelve operas of little significance, with the exception of La donna del lago. After being obliged to leave Pesaro hurriedly in May 1819 (it turned out to be his last visit there), Rossini returned to Naples in early June with no projects in the offing, except to become involved with overseeing a new production of his La gazza ladra there. Also, a commission from Milan’s La Scala for an opera, which would become Bianca e Falliero, had been offered and was planned for December of that year. Suddenly, the Italian composer Gaspare Spontini withdrew from a commitment to write two operas for the Naples house that season, thus leaving a huge gap. Rossini was quickly asked to write an opera for a September premiere; rather than use an existing libretto, the house insisted upon a wholly new opera and he accepted the challenge. It seems Rossini was initially attracted to Scott’s poem when, in musicologist Philip Gossett’s opinion, he was introduced to it in translation by the young French composer Désiré-Alexandre Batton, a student of his and Prix de Rome winner then in Italy. On hearing about the poem from Batton, Rossini asked for a copy and within a few days informed Batton he was so delighted with it he would compose an opera based on it. He then immediately called upon the Naples-based librettist Andrea Leone Tottola (who is described as “a comparative mediocrity when set against the likes of a Felice Romani)”. Later, the librettist claimed the topic for “this difficult task” had been chosen by the Naples impresario. published in 1760 by James Macpherson, who claimed to have found poems written by an ancient bard. The published translations acquired international popularity and set off a craze for idealising and romanticizing the Scottish Highlands. Napoleon and Thomas Jefferson read the Ossian poems, Goethe included them in The Sorrows of Young Werther, and Schubert and Mendelssohn both composed music to them. The young Walter Scott was also greatly influenced by them. But together, composer and librettist, reflecting the poetic meter of the Ossian tales, “strove to interweave a sense of these very rhythms into the score and libretto.” Gossett is less enthusiastic, noting that “it is almost impossible for Italian poetry to capture the quality of Scott’s characteristic verse,” but he does agree that “the spirit of the poem is there”. although it was not without some early disruptions from the audience. The opera is best considered as a transitional work between baroque and classical forms and romanticism. It was the first and also the last but one en travesti opera that Rossini would write for Naples, the last one being Maometto secondo. Due to the influence of the French style during the reigns of Joseph Bonaparte and Joachim Murat, tenors had substituted castrati and contraltos for heroic roles there.

La gazza ladra

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

The first performance of The Thieving Magpie was on 31 May 1817, at La Scala, Milan. In 1818, Rossini revised the opera for subsequent productions in Pesaro; and then in 1819 for the Teatro del Fondo, in Naples; in 1820 for the Teatro di San Carlo, in Naples; and in 1866 he revised the music for performance in Paris. The 1866 revision included embellishments and variations written specifically for Giuseppina Vitali, who was singing the role of Ninetta. He revised the role again in 1867 with embellishments and cadenzas for Adelina Patti. The first performance of The Thieving Magpie in England was at the King’s Theatre, London, on 10 March 1821. A French-language opera-comique using the original title of the French source material (La pie voleuse) in a version translated by Castil-Blaze was premiered in Lille, France, on 15 October 1822. The French-language version’s first performance in the United States was at the Théâtre d’Orléans, New Orleans, on 30 December 1824. In 1941, Riccardo Zandonai composed a version of The Thieving Magpie for a revival of the opera in Pesaro. In 1979, Alberto Zedda edited Rossini’s original composition of the opera for publication by the Fondazione Rossini. In 2013, the Bronx Opera of New York City performed an English-language version of La gazza ladra.

La gazzetta

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition history#

Following the success of his Il Barbiere di Siviglia in Rome, the composer arrived in Naples in February 1816 to discover that fire had destroyed the Teatro San Carlo, that he was obliged to compose a cantata to celebrate a royal wedding, plus supervise a production of his Tancredi. And the music for La gazzetta was due for August performances. These borrowings may have sped up the process of composition, but Charles Osborne notes that “on this occasion, Rossini failed to complete the opera with his usual alacrity” and speculates that it may have been caused by his attraction to the soprano Isabella Colbran. It opened a month later than originally scheduled.

La pietra del paragone

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

La pietra del paragone was first performed at La Scala, Milan, on 26 September 1812. It was the composer’s first commission from a major opera house and was an instant success, being performed 53 times during its first season. Napoleon’s Viceroy in Milan, Eugène de Beauharnais, was so impressed by the opera that he wrote to the Minister of the Interior, “You will kindly arrange for Maestro Joachin Rossini to be exempted from military service. I cannot take it upon myself to expose to the enemy’s fire such a precious existence; my contemporaries would never forgive me. We are perhaps losing a mediocre soldier, but we are surely saving a man of genius for the nation.” The first performance of the opera in Rio de Janeiro was in 1826. Despite its early success in Europe the work did not receive its North American premiere until 1955 and the British professional premiere was at the St Pancras Town Hall in 1963. In more recent times, Eduardo De Filippo and Paolo Tomaselli directed a production for the Piccola Scala in 1982, which later toured to the Edinburgh International Festival and the Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo. At various times, the cast included Margherita Guglielmi, Julia Hamari, Alessandro Corbelli, Claudio Desderi and Justino Díaz, conductor Roberto Abbado.

La scala di seta

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Synopsis#

:Time: 18th Century :Place: Paris :Location:The events take place in the apartment of Giulia, pupil of old Dormont Dormont is the teacher and guardian of the beautiful Giulia, and he is determined that she will marry Blansac despite her continual rejection of his advances. The fact is that Giulia is already married to Blansac’s friend Dorvil, who every night is able to exercise his conjugal rights because Giulia lowers a ladder made of silk down to him from her bedroom window. The opera opens in the morning. Owing to the attentions of Giulia’s cousin Lucilla, and the family servant, Germano, Dorvil has great difficulty making his escape by his usual method. Blansac is due to arrive at any minute in his quest to win Giulia’s love, but she has devised a scheme to divert his amorous attentions towards her cousin, who would make an excellent wife for him. Giulia intends to bring Lucilla and Blansac together, and persuades Germano to spy on them from a secret hiding place to see how the relationship develops. Blansac arrives with his good friend Dorvil, who desperately tries to persuade him that Giulia is not looking for a husband. Unfortunately this only has the effect of making Blansac more determined, and more confident of success. He suggests that Dorvil might care to hide and see how successfully he is able to woo Giulia. Consequently, when Giulia enters, her meeting with Blansac is being overheard by both Germano and by her husband. Giulia decides to probe Blansac to see if he would make a good and faithful husband for her cousin. Her questioning deceives all of the men listening into thinking that she is genuinely interested in Blansac. Dorvil emerges from hiding and storms off in fury, much to Germano’s surprise, who also shows himself. In the midst of all the confusion and noise Lucilla enters and Blansac suddenly notices what a fine looking young woman she is. Decidedly prettier than her cousin Giulia. It is now late evening. Giulia is desperate for Dorvil to arrive so that she can explain the reason why she was questioning Blansac so closely about marriage. Once again the servant Germano is on hand and realizes that his mistress has an assignation. He can only assume that it is with Blansac, and decides to hide once more and see what happens. Unfortunately he is unable to keep his secret to himself and he lets Lucilla in on it. She is distressed to learn that Blansac, whom she now loves dearly, is meeting Giulia and she also determines to find a hiding place in Giulia’s bedroom to observe proceedings. There is general surprise and joyful amazement when it is Dorvil who climbs into the bedroom, followed closely by his friend who is intent on using the silken ladder to further his wooing, not of Giulia, but Lucilla. Everyone scatters when Dormont, who has been woken by all the noise, enters in his nightshirt. Seeing the way that everything has turned out for the best, he quickly forgives the couples for their underhand behavior and all ends in general rejoicing.

Largo al factotum

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Music#

\set Staff.midiInstrument = #“trombone” \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \tempo 8 = 270 \clef bass \time 6/8 c'4.( c'8)\noBeam d’\noBeam b c'8 d’\noBeam b c’\noBeam d’\noBeam b c'8 r r e'4. e8 \addlyrics Lar – go al fac – to – tum del – la cit – tà, lar – go \new Staff \with \remove “Time_signature_engraver” \clef bass \key c \major d_“Range”\glissando g’ \parenthesize a’ Because of the constant singing of eighth notes in meter at an allegro vivace tempo, the piece is often noted as one of the most difficult baritone arias to perform. This, along with the tongue-twisting nature of some of the lines, insisting on Italian superlatives (always ending in “-issimo”), have made it a pièce de résistance in which a skilled baritone has the chance to highlight all of his qualities. The aria is written in C major. The voice range covers D 3 to G 4 (optional A 4 ), with a very high tessitura. For this reason, few dramatic tenors have also sung the aria, notably Mario Del Monaco and Plácido Domingo.

Le comte Ory

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

It was first performed on 20 August 1828 at the Salle Le Peletier by the Paris Opera. It was given in London at the King’s Theatre in Italian on 28 February 1829, in New Orleans at the Théâtre d’Orléans on 16 December 1830 and in New York on 22 August 1831. A 2024 performance by NZ Opera in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch set the opera in the present day at an ashram (served by the Kingston Flyer) and a women’s wellness retreat, both overlooking Lake Wānaka. The Crusaders were a rugby team on an overseas tour, Ory (Manase Latu) disguised himself as a guru, and instead of a trouser role, Isolier (Hanna Hipp) was a lesbian. The surtitles were in very idiomatic informal New Zealand English.

Le siège de Corinthe

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition history#

The opera commemorates the siege and ultimate destruction of the town of Missolonghi in 1826 by Turkish troops during the ongoing Greek War of Independence (1821–1829). The same incident – condemned throughout Western Europe for its cruelty – also inspired a prominent painting by Eugène Delacroix (Greece Expiring on the Ruins of Missolonghi), and was mentioned in the writings of Victor Hugo. The reference to Corinth is an example of allegory, although Sultan Mehmed II had indeed besieged the city in the 1450s. Lord Byron’s 1816 poem The Siege of Corinth has little, if any, connection with the opera as to its content. Liszt wrote an Introduction and Variations for piano based on a march from this opera. That work was deemed lost or mistitled until 1976 when the introduction was discovered by Nancy B. Reich at Manhattanville College’s library.

Maometto II

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition history#

The opera was written as Rossini’s composing career was beginning to slow down to one opera per year, and it appeared almost a year after Bianca e Falliero, although it was succeeded very quickly by Matilde di Shabran. In accepting the commission from the San Carlo in May 1820, it became clear when Rossini began composing the opera, that it “would be the most ambitious of all his works for the Italian stage”. As it turned out, “its composition process was long and laborious, the circumstances of its making unexpectedly fraught”. since the composer was “moving in a direction the Naples audience was reluctant to follow”.

Matilde di Shabran

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Versions#

Three authentic versions of Matilde di Shabran exist. These are: the Rome version (24 February 1821); the Naples version (11 November 1821), and the Vienna version (7 May 1822). It is unlikely that Rossini participated directly in the 15 October 1821 performance that took place in Paris.

Performance history#

After the mixed reception at the premiere, performances continued at Teatro Apollo until the end of the season, and Matilde di Shabran went the rounds of other Italian cities. The opera appears to have been popular, with presentations in Europe (London on 3 July 1823) and New York (10 February 1834). However, apart from an 1892 staging in Florence, it was not staged again until 1974 in Genoa." A revised version of the score was presented at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro in 1996, Juan Diego Flórez sang the role of Corradino each time. A 1998 performance at the Rossini in Wildbad Belcanto Opera Festival used the Viennese version.

Messa di Gloria (Rossini)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Analysis#

The “Kyrie” is divided into three portions, the first a dotted-rhythm “Kyrie eleison” for chorus in E minor, the second, a more lyrical E major “Christe eleison” for two tenors with the first minor-key section rounding out the prayer. The “Gloria” portion takes up the vast majority of the work and is split up into operatic-style “numbers”, soprano soloists alternating with tenors, basses, etc. The high point, emotionally, comes at the “Qui tollis”, which begins with a slow portion for chorus and tenor, then concludes with a brilliant cabaletta (“Qui sedes”), showing off the extreme upper end of the tenor’s range. Critics of the time were slightly scandalized by Rossini’s morphing of sacred ceremony into opera seria, and even buffa, at times. In his 1995 study of the Messa di Gloria, Jesse Rosenberg agrees with contemporary reports that Rossini was helped in the composition of the concluding “number” of the Messa, a four-part double fugue setting of “Cum sancto spiritu”, by another Italian composer more versed in counterpoint, Pietro Raimondi.

Mosè in Egitto

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition history#

Mosè in Egitto, 1818 The opera was loosely based on the Exodus from Egypt of the Israelites, led by Moses, rendered agreeable to the opera stage by introducing a love theme, in which the Pharaoh’s son Amenophis plans to prevent their departure, since he loves the Israelite Anaïs. The 1818 opera opens as the plague of darkness is dispelled by Moses’ prayer, and it ends with the spectacle of the parting of the Red Sea and the drowning of Pharaoh’s host, which “elicited howls of derision” at the clumsy machinery of its staging at the premiere, though the opera surmounted its technical failings and was a hit. Billed in 1818 as an azione tragico-sacra, the sacred drama with some features of the oratorio circumvented proscriptions of secular dramatic performances during Lent. Rossini slightly revised the opera in 1819, when he introduced Moses’ prayer-aria “Dal tuo stellato soglio”, which became one of the most popular opera pieces of the day and which inspired a set of variations for violin and piano by Niccolò Paganini. Both survive in concert performance. Moïse et Pharaon, 1827 The greatly enlarged work set to a French libretto was composed with so much additional music, including a substantial ballet, as to warrant a new title, Moïse et Pharaon, ou Le passage de la Mer Rouge (Moses and Pharaoh, or The Crossing of the Red Sea) (), and was seen to be a separate and new opera alongside its Naples progenitor.

Otello (López Cobos recording)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

Following Otellos première in Naples in 1816, Rossini wrote an alternative version of the opera which replaced its climax with a different, happier conclusion. (Opera Rara’s issue of the opera, conducted by David Parry, includes this alternative ending in an appendix. ) Jesús López Cobos’s album presents the opera in accordance with Rossini’s original autograph score.

Recording#

The album was recorded using analogue technology in September 1978 at an unidentified location in London.

Otello (Rossini)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

19th century#

The first performance took place at the Teatro del Fondo in Naples on 4 December 1816. It was first performed in Paris on 5 June 1821 at the Théâtre Italien (with Manuel García as Otello and Giuditta Pasta as Desdemona), in London on 16 May 1822 at the King’s Theatre, and in New York on 7 February 1826 at the Park Theatre. The role of Iago is indicated in the early scores as that of a tenor and was taken up in the early years by tenors Ciccimarra, Luigi Campitelli and Domenico Reina. Yet curiously, only three years after the premiere, Rossini adapted the role for the baritone voice and it was frequently sung thereafter by baritones, including the most renowned bel canto-era “secondo basso cantante”, transitional baritones, and practicing Verdian baritones of the 19th century. During this period, Iago was assigned to the Italian sometimes-second-tenor, sometimes-baritone Giovanola at the Théâtre Italien in Paris on 26 July 1823 with Giuditta Pasta as Desdemona. The Spanish baritone (later pedagogue) Manuel García, Jr. sang the role on his family’s trip to New York in 1826. The Italian baritone Ferdinando Lauretti sang it at Verona in 1827 and a review of this performance was dispatched to London’s The Harmonicon, which mentions his “character of Iago, a part for a bass which was greatly improved by Rossini, during his engagement at your Italian opera.” Domenico Cosselli sang the role at Turin’s in 1828, as did the Italian primo basso Federico Crespi (1833), Antonio Tamburini (from 1834), Luciano Fornasari (in 1844), Giovanni Belletti (in 1849), Joseph Tagliafico in 1850, Giorgio Ronconi (from 1851), Francesco Graziani (from 1869), and Antonio Cotogni (in 1869). French baritone Paul Barroilhet appeared in 1844 in Paris, where he interpolated the aria "" (transposed from C to B-flat) from Rossini’s La donna del lago. His successor, Jean-Baptiste Faure, sang the role in 1871. A French printed edition from 1823 shows Iago’s part written in the bass clef.

Péchés de vieillesse

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Arrangements#

In 1918, Ottorino Respighi orchestrated a number of the piano pieces for the ballet La Boutique fantasque. In 1925, he arranged some more piano pieces, from Vol. XII (Quelques riens), as the orchestral suite Rossiniana. Benjamin Britten also used some of Rossini’s themes in his orchestrally arranged suites “Soirées musicales”, Op. 9, (1936) and “Matinées musicales”, Op. 24 (1941).

Recordings#

From 2008 to 2018 Naxos Records released 11 albums with Péchés de vieillesse played by pianist Alessandro Marangoni.

Petite messe solennelle

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Rossini composed the Petite messe solennelle in 1863, 34 years after writing his last opera, in Passy, where he spent the last decades of his life. Rossini and his wife entertained a circle of friends, holding samedi soirs for which he composed several pieces of chamber music, often vocal, which the composer called his péchés de vieillesse (sins of old age). The mass was possibly commissioned by Count Alexis Pillet-Will for his wife Louise to whom it is dedicated, but the musicologist Nancy P. Fleming points out that Rossini may have had reasons of his own to compose it, and dedicated it in response to staging the first performance. The mass is structured in several extended movements in the tradition of the missa solemnis, but the composer labeled it petite with a grain of irony. He wrote on the last page of the autograph manuscript (now preserved in the Fondazione Rossini, Pesaro): The unusual scoring for voices, two pianos and harmonium is in the Neapolitan harpsichord tradition of the 18th century. Rossini specified, on the second page of his manuscript, twelve singers in all, noting on the title page: “Twelve singers of three sexes, men, women and castrati will suffice for its execution: that is, eight for the choir, four soloists, in all twelve cherubim”.

Ricciardo e Zoraide

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

Ricciardo e Zoraide was first performed at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples, on 3 December 1818. It continued to be performed until 1846 but fell out of favor afterwards and was not performed in public again until its revival at the Pesaro Rossini Opera Festival in 1990. The Rossini Opera Festival featured a new production of the opera in 2018. Among other performances, the opera received a production at the Rossini in Wildbad festival in 2013.

Robert Bruce (opera)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

After Rossini’s arrival in Paris in 1843 for medical treatment, he was visited by Léon Pillet, the director of the Paris Opera. Pillet begged Rossini to compose a new work for the house. Rossini declined because of his poor health, but pointed out that his opera La donna del lago (1819), which he felt had never been performed adequately at the Théâtre Italien in Paris, would be “most suitable for the French stage, the one that more than the others, had need of your big choruses, your magnificent orchestra, your beautiful staging. … Now that you have Rosine Stoltz Rosine Stoltz at your disposal you would do well to profit by it.” However, Pillet was reluctant to present a work which since 1824 in its Italian version was already well known to Parisian audiences. Rossini went back to his home in Bologna, where in June 1846 he was again visited by Pillet, who was accompanied by librettist Gustave Vaëz, and Louis Niedermeyer. The result (which also involved Vaëz’s regular collaborator Alphonse Royer as co-librettist) was Robert Bruce, an elaborate pasticcio, based on music not only from La donna del lago and Zelmira, but also from Bianca e Falliero, Torvaldo e Dorliska, Armida, Mosè in Egitto, and Maometto II. Niedermeyer apparently wrote the necessary recitatives.

Semiramide

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition history#

After making his mark with a number of brilliant comic operas (most notably Il barbiere di Siviglia, La Cenerentola, Il turco in Italia, and L’italiana in Algeri), Rossini turned more and more to serious opera (opere serie). During the years 1813 (when Rossini composed Tancredi) until 1822 he wrote a considerable series of them, mostly for the Teatro di San Carlo, Naples. One reason for his new interest in the serious genre was his connection with the great dramatic soprano Isabella Colbran, who was first his mistress, then his wife. She created the leading female roles in Elisabetta, regina d’Inghilterra (1815), Otello (1816), Armida (1817), Mosè in Egitto (1818), Maometto II (1820), and five other Rossini operas up to and including his final contribution to the genre, Semiramide, which was also written with Colbran in the major role. Work began with the librettist in October 1822, composer and librettist taking Voltaire’s story and making significant changes. Actual composition took Rossini 33 days to complete the score.

Sigismondo

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

Sigismondo was first performed at the Teatro La Fenice, Venice, on 26 December 1814, with revivals in Cremona, Reggio Emilia, Padua and Senigallia (all in 1819), Florence and Siena (both in 1820) and finally in Bologna (1827). Its modern revival took place in Rovigo in 1992 (see recording details below).

Synopsis#

:Time: 16th Century :Place: Poland

References#

Notes Sources *Gossett, Philip; Brauner, Patricia (2001), " Sigismondo " in Holden, Amanda (ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam. *Osborne, Charles (1994), The Bel Canto Operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini, London: Methuen; Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. *Osborne, Richard (1998), “Sigismondo”, in Stanley Sadie (Ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Vol. xxxx. London: Macmillan Publishers, Inc. *Osborne, Richard (1990), Rossini, Ithaca, New York: Northeastern University Press. *Osborne, Richard (1998), “Sigismondo”, in Stanley Sadie, (Ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Vol. XXX. pp. XXX London: Macmillan Publishers, Inc. *Radiciotti, Giuseppe (1927–1929), Gioacchino Rossini: vita documentata; opere ed influenze su l’arte, 3 vols. Tivoli: Chicca.

Six string sonatas (Rossini)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Rossini composed his six string sonatas while staying in Ravenna during the summer of 1804. He was 12 years old at the time and was living in the home of the amateur double bass enthusiast Agostini Triossi. Triossi’s influence was likely the reason why the double bass is featured prominently in the sonatas. According to Rossini himself, the sonatas were: With the exception of a single song, the six string sonatas are considered Rossini’s earliest compositions. Though the music presents weaknesses and deficiencies, the sonatas are still considered remarkable works for a composer of such young age and inexperience. In 1826, five of the six string sonatas (excluding Sonata No. 3) were first published by Casa Ricordi in Milan as standard string quartets. A further transposition for wind instruments is dated 1828/1829. However, the whereabouts of the sonatas eventually became a mystery, and scholars assumed that were destroyed. In 1942, the sonatas published by Ricordi were rediscovered, and in 1954, Rossini’s original score was found in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Sombre forêt

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Libretto#

French Recitative Ils s’éloignent enfin; j’ai cru le reconnaître: Mon cœur n’a point trompé mes yeux; Il a suivi mes pas, il est près de ces lieux. Je tremble!…s’il allait paraître! Quel est ce sentiment profond, mystérieux Dont je nourris l’ardeur, que je chéris peut-être? Arnold! Arnold! est-ce bien toi? Simple habitant de ces campagnes, L’espoir, l’orgueil de tes montagnes, Qui charme ma pensée et cause mon effroi? Ah! que je puisse au moins l’avouer moi-même! Melcthal, c’est toi que j’aime; Sans toi j’aurais perdu le jour; Et ma reconnaissance excuse mon amour. Aria Sombre forêt, désert triste et sauvage, Je vous préfère aux splendeurs des palais: C’est sur les monts, au séjour de l’orage, Que mon cœur peut renaître à la paix; Mais l’écho seulement apprendra mes secrets. Toi, du berger astre doux et timide, Qui, sur mes pas, viens semant tes reflets, Ah! sois aussi mon étoile et mon guide! Comme lui tes rayons sont discrets, Et l’écho seulement redira mes secrets. English Recitative They go at last, I thought I saw him: My heart has not deceived my eyes; He followed my steps, he is near this place. I tremble!…if he were to appear! What is this feeling, deep, mysterious I nourished the ardour, which I cherish perhaps? Arnold! Arnold! is it really you? Simple inhabitant of these fields, The hope and pride of the mountains That charms my mind and causes my fear? Ah! I can at least admit to myself! Melcthal, it’s you I love; Without you I would have lost the day; And my gratitude excuses my love. Aria Dark forest, wilderness sad and wild, I prefer you to the splendours of the palace: It is on the mountains, the place of the storm That my heart can regain peace; And only the echo will learn my secrets. You, the sweet and shy star of the shepherd, Whose light illuminates my footsteps, Ah! be also my star and my guide! Like him, your rays are discrete, And only the echo will repeat my secrets. Italian Recitative S’allontanano alfine! Io sperai rivederlo, E il cor non m’ha ingannata, Ei mi seguìa… lontano esser non puote… Io tremo… ohimè!.. se qui venisse mai! Onde l’arcano sentimento estremo Di cui nutro l’ardor, ch’amo fors’anco! Arnoldo! Arnoldo! ah! sei pur tu ch’io bramo. Semplice abitator di questi campi, Di questi monti caro orgoglio e speme, Sei tu sol che incanti il mio pensiero, Che il mio timor cagioni. Oh! almen ch’io possa Confessarlo a me stessa… io t’amo, Arnoldo! Tu i giorni miei salvasti, E l’amor più possente in me destasti. Aria Selva opaca, deserta brughiera Qual piacer la tua vista mi dà. Sovra i monti ove il turbine impera Alla calma il mio cor s’aprirà. L’eco sol le mie pene udirà. Tu, bell’astro, al cui dolce riflesso Il mio passo vagante sen va, Tu m’addita ove Arnoldo s’aggira; A lui solo il mio cuor s’aprirà, Esso sol le mie pene udirà.

Stabat Mater (Rossini)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition#

In 1831 Rossini was traveling in Spain in the company of his friend the Spanish banker Alexandre Aguado, owner of Château Margaux. In the course of the trip, Fernández Varela, a state councillor, commissioned a setting of the traditional liturgical text, the Stabat Mater. Rossini managed to complete part of the setting of the sequence in 1832, but ill health made it impossible for him to complete the commission. Having written only half the score (nos. 1 and 5–9), he asked his friend Giovanni Tadolini to compose six additional movements. Rossini presented the completed work to Varela as his own. It was premiered on Holy Saturday of 1833 in the Chapel of San Felipe el Real in Madrid, but this version was never again performed. When Varela died, his heirs sold the work for 2,000 francs to a Parisian music publisher, Antoine Aulagnier, who printed it. Rossini protested, claiming that he had reserved publication rights for himself, and disowned Aulagnier’s version, since it included the music by Tadolini. Although surprised by this, Aulangier went ahead and arranged for a public performance at the Salle Herz on 31 October 1841, at which only the six pieces by Rossini were performed. In fact, Rossini had already sold the publication rights for 6,000 francs to another Paris publisher, Eugène Troupenas. Lawsuits ensued, and Troupenas emerged the victor. Rossini finished the work, replacing the music by Tadolini, before the end of 1841. The brothers Léon and Marie Escudier, who had purchased the performing rights of Rossini’s final version of the score from Troupenas for 8,000 francs, sold them to the director of the Théâtre-Italien for 20,000 francs, who began making preparations for its first performance. Rossini’s extensive operatic career had divided the public into admirers and critics. The announcement of the premiere of Rossini’s Stabat Mater provided an occasion for a wide-ranging attack by Richard Wagner, who was in Paris at the time, not only on Rossini but more generally on the current European fashion for religious music and the money to be made from it. A week before the scheduled concert Robert Schumann’s Neue Zeitschrift für Musik carried the pseudonymous essay, penned by Wagner under the name of “H. Valentino”, in which he claimed to find Rossini’s popularity incomprehensible: “It is extraordinary! So long as this man lives, he’ll always be the mode.” Wagner concluded his polemic with the following observation: “That dreadful word: Copyright—growls through the scarce laid breezes. Action! Action! Once more, Action! And money is fetched out, to pay the best of lawyers, to get documents produced, to enter caveats.—O ye foolish people, have ye lost your hiking for your gold? I know somebody who for five francs will make you five waltzes, each of them better than that misery of the wealthy master’s!” At the time when Wagner wrote this, he was still in his late twenties and he had not yet had much success with the acceptance of his own music in the French capital.

Tancredi

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition history#

By the time he was twenty years old, Rossini’s reputation had grown such that he was regarded as “‘a maestro di cartello’, a composer whose name alone guarantees a public”. Success with La pietra del paragone for Milan in September was great, but delays caused him to be late in Venice for his next commission at the Teatro San Moisè, L’occasione fa il ladro. Other comedies had preceded L’occasione, but its success ensured a fifth opera for that house. This was Il Signor Bruschino, which was presented on 27 January 1813 and which the composer wrote more-or-less parallel to preparing Tancredi, a commission for this opera having been accepted from Venice’s most prestigious house, La Fenice, the previous autumn. Other treatments of the Tancredi story had been prepared, the most recent being that of Stefano Pavesi in 1812. However, many of Rossini’s formal inventions, seen in his earlier one-act operas, are here incorporated with great effect and formalism. As Gossett notes: “The opera established a new formal synthesis, new compositional models, with, through, and in spite of which Italian composers were to operate.” The music for this ending was withdrawn, it disappeared, and was not discovered until 1976. :Act 1: The duet L’aura che interno spiri / “The air you breathe brings mortal danger” from act 1 (the first encounter between the couple) was removed and replaced with Lasciami: non t’ascolto from act 2, something which Richard Osborne regards “as introducing a not entirely plausible note of confrontation into the lovers’ first encounter”. According to Richard Osborne, the 1813 re-workings for Ferrara were not a success and “Rossini withdrew the revision and, as was his habit, redistributed some of the music in later work”. In Divas and Scholars, musicologist Philip Gossett recounts how this ending was rediscovered: :Until the mid-1970s, no musical score was known to exist.. .. ..The late Count Giacomo Lechi of Brecia … whose predecessor was the writer Luigi Lechi who had prepared the text for Ferrara …was reviewing the family’s papers in 1976, came across several musical manuscripts one of which bore the .. .. ..attestation by Rossini : “I declare (and not without shame) that this is an autograph of mine from 1813!!” (It was dated 22 November 1867). Following the discovery, the preparation of the critical edition for the Fondazione Rossini by Philip Gossett and others at the University of Chicago began in 1976. December 1813 revision for Milan In addition to restoring the happy ending, by the end of 1813 and in time for the Milan premiere in December at the new Teatro Ré, Rossini had also restored the cut second duet and had re-written and restored Argirio’s cut aria. While Tancredi and Amenaide are happily reunited, he is given “an entirely new rondo in lieu of the more elaborate gran scena of the original score after Tancredi learns from Argirio that her letter was written for him, and not for Solamir (rather than there being a denial from Solamir).

The Barber of Seville

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition history#

Rossini’s opera recounts the events of the first of the three plays by French playwright Pierre Beaumarchais that revolve around the clever and enterprising character named Figaro, the barber of the title. Mozart’s opera The Marriage of Figaro, composed 30 years earlier in 1786, is based on the second part of the Beaumarchais trilogy. (This play was originally conceived as an opéra comique, but was rejected as such by the Comédie-Italienne.) The play as it is now known was premiered in 1775 by the Comédie-Française at the Théâtre des Tuileries in Paris. Other operas based on the first play were composed by Giovanni Paisiello (in 1782), by Nicolas Isouard in 1796, and then by Francesco Morlacchi in 1816. Though the work of Paisiello triumphed for a time, only Rossini’s version has stood the test of time and continues to be a mainstay of operatic repertoire. On 11 November 1868, two days before Rossini’s death, the composer (1842–1877) premiered an opera based on the same libretto as Rossini’s work, bearing a dedication to Rossini. The premiere was not a failure, but critics condemned the “audacity” of the young composer and the work is now forgotten. Rossini was well known for being remarkably productive, completing an average of two operas per year for 19 years, and in some years writing as many as four. Musicologists believe that, true to form, the music for Il barbiere di Siviglia was composed in just under three weeks, although the famous overture was actually recycled from two earlier Rossini operas, Aureliano in Palmira and Elizabeth, Queen of England and thus contains none of the thematic material in Il barbiere di Siviglia itself.

The Rossini Bicentennial Birthday Gala

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

In 1992, New York City’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts hosted two gala concerts commemorating the two hundredth anniversary of Rossini’s birth. The following year, EMI issued most of the contents of their video album (arranged in a different running order) on CD: the items left out were the Overture to La gazza ladra, the quartet “Cielo il mio labbro inspira” from Bianca e Falliero, the trio “Pappataci! Che mai sento” from L’italiana in Algeri and the duet “Perché mi guardi” from Zelmira. Virgin Classics restored these omissions in a double CD of the concert that they issued in 2002.

Torvaldo e Dorliska

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

Torvaldo and Dorliska was first performed at the Teatro Valle, Rome, on 26 December 1815. It remained in the repertory and appeared in several Italian cities including Venice for the next twenty five years, though it was never a great critical success. While there were no productions staged in London nor New York, it was staged in ten European cities in the ten years after its Rome premiere. The opera was presented in Vienna in 1987 and in Savona in 1989. It was given at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro as part of the 2006 season and again in 2017.

Ugo, re d'Italia

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Rossini in Paris and London#

According to music critic Andrew Porter, it took many attempts from 1816 onward to bring Rossini to London. Following the success of Semiramide in 1823, Rossini was able to spend the summer of that year in Italy, but by mid-1823, the impresario Giovan Battista Benelli (who had taken over the lease at the King’s Theatre) prevailed. He had acquired the remaining two years of the lease from John Ebers, who remained as manager. A season was planned for 1824, part of which involved an obligation to complete a two-act opera to be called La figlia dell’aria. For this work, Rossini was to be paid 6,000 francs. Having accepted the invitation to visit London in the following year, the Rossinis set out for France, arriving in Paris on 9 November to find that “Rossini fever had recently overtaken that city “. This is demonstrated by the fact that in 1822 the Théâtre-Italien had put on 154 performances, 119 of which were of operas by Rossini. Other aspects of the social whirl included attendance at soirées, where he was paid £50 per appearance (this was at a time when £1 would have bought an hour’s singing lesson), or offers from wealthy people to give singing lessons. All in all, Rossini made a significant amount of money, enough to acquire some savings for the first time in his life.

William Tell (opera)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

Guillaume Tell was first performed by the Paris Opéra at the Salle Le Peletier on 3 August 1829, but within three performances cuts were being made and after a year only three acts were performed. The opera’s length, roughly four hours of music, and casting requirements, such as the high range required for the tenor part, have contributed to the difficulty of producing the work. When performed, the opera is often cut. Performances have been given in both French and Italian. Political concerns have also contributed to the varying fortunes of the work. In Italy, because the work glorified a revolutionary figure against authority, the opera encountered difficulties with the Italian censors, and the number of productions in Italy was limited. The Teatro San Carlo produced the opera in 1833, but then did not give another production for around 50 years. The first Venice production, at the Teatro La Fenice, was not until 1856. By contrast, in Vienna, in spite of censorship problems there, the Vienna Court Opera gave 422 performances over the years 1830 to 1907. As Hofer, or the Tell of the Tyrol, the opera was first performed at Drury Lane in London on 1 May 1830 (in English), with a production in Italian following in 1839 at Her Majesty’s, and in French at Covent Garden in 1845. In the later 20th century there were major productions in Florence (1972), Geneva (1979, 1991), La Scala (1988), Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (1989), Covent Garden (1990), and then Opéra Bastille (2003) This performance was of the French version, with some cuts to particularly the fourth act (which Pappano noted had been approved by Rossini himself). A live recording of this concert performance was released in 2011, and the production was transferred to The Proms in July of that year, with Michele Pertusi taking on the title role, Patricia Bardon as Hedwige, Nicolas Courjal as Gessler, and Mark Stone as Leuthold. The performance was very well reviewed, and marked the first full performance of the work in the history of the Proms. A co-production by the Dutch National Opera and the Metropolitan Opera New York of the opera in the original French opened at the Met in October 2016 with Gerald Finley in the title role. According to an anecdote, when an admirer told the composer that he had heard his opera the previous night, Rossini replied “What? The whole of it?”. Another version of the story refers only to act 2. In 1864 Offenbach quoted the patriotic trio from act 2, “Lorsque la Grèce est un champ de carnage” in La belle Hélène.

William Tell Overture

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Instrumentation#

The overture is scored for: a piccolo, a flute, two oboes (first or second oboe doubles a cor anglais), two clarinets in A, two bassoons, four natural horns in G and E, two trumpets in E, three trombones, timpani, triangle, bass drum and cymbals, and strings.

Structure#

The overture, which lasts for approximately 12 minutes, paints a musical picture of life in the Swiss Alps, the setting of the opera. It was described by Hector Berlioz, who usually loathed Rossini’s works, as “a symphony in four parts”. But unlike an actual symphony with its distinct movements, the overture’s parts transition from one to the next without a break. 1. Prelude: Dawn The prelude is a slow section in E major and in an A-B-A-Coda structure, scored for five solo cellos accompanied by double basses. It begins in E minor with a solo cello which is in turn ‘answered’ by the remaining cellos and the double basses. An impending storm is hinted at by two very quiet timpani rolls (1st on E, 2nd on B) resembling distant thunder. The section ends with a very high sustained note played by the first cello. The duration of the prelude is about three minutes. 2. Storm This dynamic section in E minor and in an A-B-A structure, is played by the full orchestra. It begins with the violins and violas. Their phrases are punctuated by short wind instrument interventions of three notes each, first by the piccolo, flute and oboes, then by the clarinets and bassoons. The storm breaks out in full with the entrance of the French horns, trumpets, trombones, and bass drum. The volume and number of instruments gradually decreases as the storm subsides. The section ends with the flute playing alone. Call to the Cows lasts a little more than two minutes. This segment is often used in animated cartoons to signify daybreak or bucolic beauty, most notably in Walt Disney’s The Old Mill and Marv Newland’s Bambi Meets Godzilla, which uses the tune as its main musical score before Godzilla stomps on Bambi. 4. Finale: March of the Swiss Soldiers The finale, often called the “March of the Swiss Soldiers” in English, is in E major like the prelude, but it is an ultra-dynamic galop heralded by trumpets and played by the full orchestra. It alludes to the final act, which recounts the Swiss soldiers’ victorious battle to liberate their homeland from Austrian repression. The segment, in an Intro-A-B-A-Coda form, lasts for about three minutes. Although there are no horses or cavalry charges in the opera, this segment is often used in popular media to denote galloping horses, a race, or a hero riding to the rescue. Its most famous use in that respect is as the theme music for The Lone Ranger; that usage has become so famous that some notable writers have defined an “intellectual” as “a man who can listen to the William Tell Overture without thinking of the Lone Ranger”. The Finale is quoted by Johann Strauss Sr. in his William Tell Galop (Op. 29b), published and premiered a matter of months after the Paris premiere of the original, and by Dmitri Shostakovich in the first movement of his Symphony No. 15.

William Tell Overture (Mike Oldfield instrumental)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

B-sides#

The UK B-side was “Argiers”, which had previously been the European b-side for an earlier Oldfield single “Portsmouth”. “Argiers” had been recorded in January 1976 at Througham and features Leslie Penning on recorders. Some European versions included the track “First Excursion” as the B-side, however in Brazil the B-side was “Portsmouth”. The B-sides were taken from Oldfield’s Collaborative/Remix box set, Boxed.

UK#

VS 167 # “William Tell Overture” (Gioachino Rossini) – 3:55 # “Argiers” (Traditional) – 3:59

Zelmira

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance history#

The first performance of Zelmira was in Naples at the Teatro di San Carlo on 16 February 1822. This was followed by a successful premiere in Vienna on 13 April 1822, as part of a three-month-long Rossini Festival for which Rossini wrote some additional music. Performances in several Italian cities were followed by the London premiere on 24 January 1824, with Rossini conducting and Isabella Colbran (now his wife) in the title role. It was seen in Paris in 1826. There was one presentation in the US in New Orleans “around” 1835. Over 100 years were to pass before the opera was presented in Naples in 1965, but “to no great acclaim”.