Gioachino Rossini
Gioachino Rossini's chief legacy remains his extraordinary contribution to the operatic repertoire. His comedic masterpieces, including L'Italiana in Algeri, La gazza ladra, and perhaps his most famous work, Il barbiere di Siviglia, are regarded as cornerstones of the genre along with works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Giuseppe Verdi. He was revered from the time he was a teenager until his death.
Rossini's parents were both working musicians. His father played the horn and taught at the prestigious Accademia Filharmonica in Bologna, and his mother, although not formally trained, was a soprano. Rossini was taught and encouraged at home until he eventually enrolled at the Liceo Musicale in Bologna. After graduation from that institution, the young musician was commissioned by the Venetian Teatro San Moise to compose La cambiale di matrimonio, a comedy in one act. In 1812, Rossini wrote La pietra del paragone, for La Scala theater in Milan and was already, at the tender age of 20, Italy's most prominent composer.
In 1815, Rossini accepted a contract to work for theaters in Naples, where he would remain until 1822, composing prolifically in comfort. He composed 19 operas during his tenure, focusing his attention on opera seria and creating one of his most famous serious works, Otello, for the Teatro San Carlos. While he served in this capacity, Rossini met and courted Isabella Colbran, a local soprano whom he would eventually marry. Other cities, too, clamored for Rossini's works, and it was for Roman audiences that he composed the sparkling comedies Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville, 1816) and La cenerentola (Cinderella, 1817).
In 1822, Rossini left Naples and embarked on a European tour. The Italian musician was received enthusiastically to say the least, and enjoyed fame and acclaim everywhere. Even Beethoven, at the opposite stylistic pole in the musical scene of the day, praised him. The following year, Rossini was commissioned to write Semiramide, a serious opera, for La Fenice, a theater in Venice. This work was less successful in its own day than some of his previous efforts, but spawned several arias that remain part of any vocalist's songbook. In 1824, Rossini traveled via London to Paris where he would live for five years and serve as the music director from 1824 to 1826 at the Théâtre Italien. The composer gained commissions from other opera houses in France, including the Paris Opéra. Rossini composed his final opera, Guillaume Tell (1829), before retiring from composition in that genre at the age of 37. Its overture is not only a concert favorite, but an unmistakable reflection and continuation of Beethoven's heroic ideal. The catalog of work Rossini had written at the time of his retirement included 32 operas, two symphonies, numerous cantatas, and a handful of oratorios and chamber music pieces. After moving back to Italy, Rossini became a widower in 1845. His marriage to Isabella Colbran had not been particularly happy, and shortly after her death, the composer married Olympe Pelissier, a woman who had been his mistress.
In 1855, Rossini, along with his new bride, moved once again, this time settling in Passy, a suburb of Paris. He spent the remaining years of his life writing sacred music as well as delectable miniatures for both piano and voice (some of which he called "sins of my old age"). Rossini was buried in Paris' Père Lachaise cemetery in proximity to the graves of Vincenzo Bellini, Luigi Cherubini, and Frédéric Chopin. In 1887, Rossini's grave was transferred from Paris to Santa Croce, in Florence, in a ceremony attended by more than 6,000 admirers.
© David Brensilver /TiVo
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El Barbero de Sevilla. Opera en Dos Actos
Ópera - Editado por Meta - Vocación Musical el 4 feb. 2013
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Petite Messe Solennelle
Clásica - Editado por Challenge Classics el 11 jul. 2006
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My morning with Rossini
Clásica - Editado por UME - Global Clearing House el 25 jul. 2020
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Best of Romantic Music
Pyotr Illitch Tchaïkovski, Robert Schumann, Gioachino Rossini, Christian Lindberg
Clásica - Editado por EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE el 11 sept. 2021
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L'Italiana in Algeri
Ópera - Editado por Opera d'Oro el 1 ene. 1964
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GRANDI VOCI - JOAN SUTHERLAND - BAROCCO E BELCANTO Una collana dedicata con registrazioni originali Decca e Deutsche Grammophon rimasterizzate con le tecniche più moderne che ne garantiscono eccellenza tecnica e artistica
Dame Joan Sutherland, Gioachino Rossini, Vincenzo Bellini
Clásica - Editado por UME - Global Clearing House el 19 mar. 2021
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The Art of Marilyn Horne
Clásica - Editado por Butterfly Music el 17 feb. 2011
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Rossini: A Monument of Classics
Clásica - Editado por UME - Global Clearing House el 18 oct. 2022
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The Art of Fiorenza Cossotto
Clásica - Editado por Butterfly Music el 17 feb. 2011
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Rossini: William Tell: Overture (Digitally Remastered)
USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Yevgeny Svetlanov
Ópera - Editado por EMG Classical el 9 dic. 2014
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Der Barbier von Sevilla - Oper erzählt als Hörspiel mit Musik
Varios - Editado por Amor Verlag GmbH el 7 ene. 2014
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L'Italiana in Algeri
Ópera - Editado por Opera d'Oro el 1 ene. 2003
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Los Divos de la Opera, En Vivo
Clásica - Editado por JamadaClassics el 6 sept. 2015
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Gioachino Rossini, The Thieving Magpie
Clásica - Editado por Classical.com Music el 16 feb. 2009
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El Barbero de Sevilla, Rossini, Grandes Óperas
Ópera - Editado por Piros - Lucas el 7 jul. 2015
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Eternal Rossini
Clásica - Editado por UME - Global Clearing House el 11 jul. 2020
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The Very Best of Rossini's The Barber of Seville
Maria Callas, Tito Gobbi, Luigi Alva
Ópera - Editado por Past Classics el 21 ene. 2013
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Gioacchino Rossini: Chamber Music With Strings and Winds
Clásica - Editado por VDE-GALLO el 22 may. 2012
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Rediscovering French Operas in 21 Volumes - Vol. 21/21 : Guillaume Tell
Ópera - Editado por ISIS el 5 ene. 2017
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Guillaume Tell Overture
Christian Lindberg, Roland Pöntinen, Gioachino Rossini
Clásica - Editado por EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE el 13 jul. 2021
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