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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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
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini in Venice
Clásica - Editado por Albany Records el 1 ago. 2002
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Rossini: Complete Sonatas For Strings
Ensemble Amati, Raymond Dessaints
Clásica - Editado por Analekta el 1 ene. 1991
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The Very Best of Rossini's Overtures
Clásica - Editado por Past Classics el 8 feb. 2013
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Quatuors pour flûte
Clásica - Editado por Claves Records el 1 ene. 1987
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A Season of Music: Rossini
Clásica - Editado por UME - Global Clearing House el 22 sep. 2022
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L'Inganno Felice (Intégrale)
Natale de Carolis, Amelia Felle, Iorio Zennaro
Ópera - Editado por Claves Records el 1 ene. 1992
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Giuseppe Di Stefano: Gli Ospiti Radiofonici
Música concertante - Editado por Urania el 28 feb. 2000
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Rossini: Highlights from his early One-Act Operas
Ópera - Editado por Claves Records el 23 ago. 2015
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Rossini: Sei sonate a quattro per archi
Camerata Strumentale di Santa Cecilia
Música de cámara - Editado por ProClassica el 8 ago. 2012
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GRANDI VOCI - GIULIETTA SIMIONATO Una collana dedicata con registrazioni originali Decca e Deutsche Grammophon rimasterizzate con le tecniche più moderne che ne garantiscono eccellenza tecnica e artistica
Giulietta Simionato, Giuseppe Verdi, Gioachino Rossini
Clásica - Editado por UME - Global Clearing House el 27 abr. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
EG Favorites
Gioachino Rossini, Carl Maria von Weber, Georges Bizet
Clásica - Editado por EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE el 6 jul. 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grandi Voci - Luigi Alva, Ugo Benelli Una collana dedicata con registrazioni originali Decca e Deutsche Grammophon rimasterizzate con le tecniche più moderne che ne garantiscono eccellenza tecnica e artistica
Luigi Alva, Gioachino Rossini, Vincenzo Bellini
Clásica - Editado por UME - Global Clearing House el 25 jun. 2021
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Essential Overtures
Johannes Brahms, Franz Schubert, Gioachino Rossini, Christian Lindberg
Clásica - Editado por EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE el 26 feb. 2023
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The Essential Christian Lindberg
Christian Lindberg, Johann Sebastian Bach, Pyotr Illitch Tchaïkovski, Gioachino Rossini
Clásica - Editado por EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE el 14 feb. 2023
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Music for Voices Vol. 1
John Dowland, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Gioachino Rossini, Urban Dahlberg
Clásica - Editado por EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE el 31 mar. 2023
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Passion: Most Famous Orchestal Spectaculars - Rossini: Overtures
Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra & Rouslan Raytchev
Clásica - Editado por Cobra Entertainment LLC. el 7 jul. 2009
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Wilhelm Tell Ouverture ( Ouvertüre )
Pop - Editado por Q Tracks el 27 jun. 2013
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