Gioachino Rossini
On the 29th of February 1792, a boy named Gioachino Antonio Rossini was born in Pesaro. His father Giuseppe played the trumpet and horn while his mother Anna sang comic opera. The family lived in poverty as Giuseppe spent money recklessly on himself. Anna worked hard to support her only child through sewing and singing. He learned music from a priest named Giuseppe Malerbe who owned books by Haydn and Mozart. These composers were unknown in Italy at that time but inspired the young student. By age twelve he wrote six sonatas for string instruments. They performed under a rich patron in 1804. Two years later he entered the Liceo Musicale school in Bologna. He studied singing cello and piano before joining composition classes. After two years he declined an offer to continue studying there. His instinct to learn in the real world took over instead.
Rossini moved to Venice in late 1810 when he was eighteen years old. There he wrote his first operatic score Demetrio e Polibio for tenor Domenico Mombelli. It premiered publicly in 1812 after his initial successes. His first staged comedy La cambiale di matrimonio appeared at Teatro San Moisè in November 1810. He received forty scudi which seemed like a fortune to him then. The small theater had no chorus and minimal rehearsal time. This environment suited a novice composer perfectly. He followed up with three more one-act farse for the same house between 1812 and 1813. In mid-1812 he received a commission from La Scala in Milan. His opera La pietra del paragone ran for fifty-three performances. That run brought financial benefits plus exemption from military service. The title of maestro di cartello meant his name guaranteed a full house. Tancredi did well at La Fenice in Venice and even better at Ferrara with a rewritten tragic ending. Within weeks of Tancredi another box-office success arrived as L'italiana in Algeri premiered in May 1813.
In May 1815 Rossini moved to Naples to become director of music for royal theaters. The city once held operatic capital status but lacked local composers of stature now. Domenico Barbaia managed the Teatro di San Carlo and influenced Rossini greatly. His first work Elisabetta regina d'Inghilterra reused sections from earlier pieces unfamiliar to locals. The new opera received tremendous enthusiasm alongside Neapolitan premieres of other works. For the first time he wrote regularly with a resident company of singers and orchestra. Adequate rehearsals made rushing unnecessary. Between 1815 and 1822 he composed eighteen more operas including nine for Naples alone. In 1816 he created Il barbiere di Siviglia for Teatro Argentina in Rome. An existing popular version by Paisiello existed already so Rossini originally titled it Almaviva. Despite an unsuccessful opening night with stage mishaps and hostile audience members the opera quickly became successful. By its first revival in Bologna months later it eclipsed Paisiello's setting entirely. Otello provoked Lord Byron to call the words lugubrious yet the piece remained popular until overshadowed by Verdi decades later.
Guillaume Tell premiered in August 1829 and was well received immediately. The orchestra gathered outside Rossini's house after the premiere to perform the finale to act two in his honor. Newspaper Le Globe declared that a new era of music had begun. Gaetano Donizetti remarked that God wrote the middle act while Rossini handled the others. The work lasted three hours and forty-five minutes making it one of his longest operas. Exhaustion from composing left him unable to continue immediately. Events overtook plans for an operatic treatment of Faust soon afterward. Charles X was overthrown in July 1830 during a revolution. The new administration announced radical cutbacks including Rossini's lifetime annuity. He returned to Paris partly to restore this income and partly to be with mistress Olympe Pélissier. Colbran stayed behind in Castenaso forever. Reasons for withdrawal remain debated throughout history. Some suggest he simply planned retirement at age thirty-seven having written thirty-nine operas. Others point to ill health including gonorrhea complications causing arthritis and depression. Modern scholarship generally discounts theories about pique toward Meyerbeer or Halévy successes. Circumstances rather than choice made Guillaume Tell his final opera.
Rossini returned to Paris aged sixty-three in April 1855 after years away. He recovered his health and joie de vivre upon settling there again. Two homes became his base: a flat on rue de la Chaussée-d'Antin plus a villa in Passy. Their Saturday evening gatherings called samedi soirs began in December 1858. These continued until two months before his death in 1868. An invitation to these events represented the city's highest social prize. More than one hundred fifty pieces emerged from weekly salons including songs piano works chamber music. He referred to them collectively as Péchés de vieillesse meaning sins of old age. Guests included Franz Liszt Anton Rubinstein Giuseppe Verdi and Joseph Joachim among others. Wagner visited Rossini via introduction from friend Edmond Michotte. One late work intended for public performance was Petite messe solennelle first performed in 1864. It used small forces originally voices two pianos harmonium making it unsuitable for church services then. At manuscript end he wrote Dear God here it is finished this poor little Mass asking if sacred or damned music he had written.
Writer Julian Budden noted formulas adopted early by Rossini regarding overtures arias structures ensembles calling them Code Rossini after Code Napoléon legal system. His overall style may have been influenced directly by French rule introducing military qualities attack noise speed heard in Rossini. Formal classicist libretti Metastasio underpinned late eighteenth century opera seria replaced by Romanticism subjects demanding stronger characterization quicker action. A jobbing composer needed strategies meeting reality or failing completely. Formulaic approach logistically indispensable at least initially. In seven years 1812, 1819 he wrote twenty-seven operas often extremely short notice. For La Cenerentola he had just over three weeks before première. Pressures led to recycling successful material frequently. Overture to La pietra del paragone later used for Tancredi while Aureliano in Palmira overture became Il barbiere di Siviglia today. Spike Hughes notes nineteen numbers lifted from previous works out of twenty-six Eduardo e Cristina produced Venice 1817. Audience remarkably good-humored asked slyly why libretto changed since last performance. Publisher Giovanni Ricordi issued complete edition 1850s causing disgust expressed publicly by Rossini himself.
Popularity of Rossini melodies led many virtuosi create piano transcriptions fantasies based on them. Examples include Sigismond Thalberg fantasy Moïse Henri Herz variations Non più mesta Frédéric Chopin Franz Hünten Anton Diabelli Friedrich Burgmüller Liszt William Tell overture Soirées musicales. Continuing popularity comic operas decline staging opere serie emerging concept creative artist rather craftsman diminished distorted place music history even though forms Italian opera continued indebted innovations. Status amongst contemporary Italian composers indicated Messa per Rossini project initiated Verdi days after death collaboration dozen other composers created together. Principal legacy vocal forms dramatic structure serious opera provided bridge French opera development opéra comique thence Jacques Offenbach operetta genre. Critical style Hector Berlioz wrote melodic cynicism contempt dramatic good sense endless repetition single form cadence eternal puerile crescendo brutal bass drum. Formidable reputation built lifetime faded thereafter inevitably. Bernard Shaw wrote 1886 less than twenty years after composer death once universal Rossini came no longer looked upon serious musician. Early twentieth century received tributes Ottorino Respighi orchestrated excerpts Péchés de vieillesse ballet la boutique fantasque 1918 suite Rossiniana 1925 Benjamin Britten adapted music two suites Soirées musicales Op. 9 1937 Matinées musicales Op. 24 1941. Firm re-evaluation significance began later twentieth century light study creation critical editions works prime mover Fondazione G. Rossini created city Pesaro 1940 using funds left composer. Since 1980 foundation supports annual Rossini Opera Festival Pesaro.
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Common questions
When was Gioachino Rossini born and where did he grow up?
Gioachino Antonio Rossini was born on the 29th of February 1792 in Pesaro. He grew up in poverty while his father Giuseppe played trumpet and horn and his mother Anna sang comic opera.
What operas did Gioachino Rossini compose during his early career in Italy?
Gioachino Rossini composed his first staged comedy La cambiale di matrimonio at Teatro San Moisè in November 1810. His major works included Tancredi which premiered at La Fenice in Venice and L'italiana in Algeri which debuted in May 1813.
Why did Gioachino Rossini stop composing operas after Guillaume Tell?
Circumstances rather than choice made Guillaume Tell his final opera following exhaustion from composition and political upheaval in France. Events overtook plans for an operatic treatment of Faust soon afterward when Charles X was overthrown in July 1830.
How many operas did Gioachino Rossini write before retiring from stage music?
Gioachino Rossini wrote thirty-nine operas before planning retirement at age thirty-seven. Between 1815 and 1822 he composed eighteen more operas including nine specifically for Naples alone.
What musical gatherings did Gioachino Rossini host in Paris during the 1860s?
Saturday evening gatherings called samedi soirs began in December 1858 and continued until two months before his death in 1868. More than one hundred fifty pieces emerged from these weekly salons including songs piano works chamber music and Petite messe solennelle first performed in 1864.