Works by Gioacchino Rossini. Biography "William Tell" - the composer's last opera
(1792-1868) italian composer
G. Rossini is an outstanding Italian composer of the last century, whose work marked the heyday of the national operatic art. He managed to breathe new life into traditional Italian types of opera - comic (buffa) and "serious" (seria). Rossini's talent was revealed especially brightly in the opera buffa. The realism of life sketches, accuracy in the depiction of characters, the swiftness of action, melodic richness and sparkling wit ensured his works immense popularity.
The period of intensive creativity of Rossini lasted about 20 years. During this time, he created over 30 operas, many in a short time bypassed the capital theaters of Europe and brought worldwide fame to the author.
Gioachino Rossini was born on February 29, 1792 in Pesaro. The future composer had a wonderful voice and sang in church choirs from the age of 8. At the age of 14, he undertook a solo trip with a small theater troupe as a conductor. Rossini completed his education at the Bologna Musical Lyceum, after which he chose his own path opera composer.
Moving from city to city and fulfilling the orders of local theaters, he wrote several operas a year. The works created in 1813 - the opera-buffa "Italian in Algiers" and the heroic opera-serial "Tancred" - brought him wide popularity. The melodies of Rossini's arias were sung on the streets of Italian cities. “There is a man living in Italy,” Stendhal wrote, “about whom they talk more than about Napoleon; this is a composer who is not yet twenty years old.
In 1815, Rossini was invited to the position of permanent composer at the San Carlo Theater in Naples. It was one of the best theaters of that time, with excellent singers and musicians. The first opera written by him in Naples - "Elizabeth, Queen of England" - was received with enthusiasm. In the life of Rossini, a stage of a calm, prosperous life began. It was in Naples that all his major operas. His musical and theatrical style reached a high maturity in the monumental heroic operas Moses (1818) and Mohammed II (1820). In 1816, Rossini wrote the comic opera The Barber of Seville based on the famous comedy by Beaumarchais. Its premiere was also a triumphant success, and soon all of Italy sang melodies from this opera.
In 1822, the political reaction that came in Italy forced Rossini to leave his homeland. He went on tour with a group of artists. They performed in London, Berlin, Vienna. There Rossini met Beethoven, Schubert and Berlioz.
From 1824 he settled in Paris. For several years he served as head of the Italian opera house. Taking into account the requirements of the French stage, he revised a number of previous operas and created new ones. Rossini's high achievement was the heroic-romantic opera William Tell (1829), which glorified the leader of the national liberation struggle in Switzerland in the 14th century. Appearing on the eve of the revolution of 1830, this opera responded to the freedom-loving moods of the advanced part of French society. William Tell is Rossini's last opera.
In the prime of his creative powers, before reaching the age of forty, Rossini suddenly stopped writing operatic music. He was engaged in concert activity, composed instrumental pieces, traveled a lot. In 1836 he returned to Italy, living first in Bologna and then in Florence. In 1848, Rossini composed the Italian national anthem.
But soon after that he returned to France again and settled in his estate in Passy, near Paris. His house became one of the centers artistic life. Many famous singers, composers, and writers attended the musical evenings that he arranged. In particular, memoirs about one of these concerts, written by I. S. Turgenev, are known. It is curious that one of Rossini's hobbies during these years was cooking. He was very fond of treating his guests with his own cooked dishes. "Why do you need my music if you have my pâté?" - the composer said jokingly to one of the guests.
Gioachino Rossini died on November 13, 1868. A few years later, his ashes were transported to Florence and solemnly buried in the pantheon of the Church of Santa Croce, next to the remains of other prominent figures of Italian culture.
ROSSINI, GIOACCHINO(Rossini, Gioacchino) (1792–1868), Italian opera composer, author of the immortal Barber of Seville. Born February 29, 1792 in Pesaro in the family of a city trumpeter (herald) and a singer. He fell in love with music very early, especially singing, but began to study seriously only at the age of 14, having entered the Musical Lyceum in Bologna. There he studied cello and counterpoint until 1810, when Rossini's first noteworthy work was a one-act farce opera. Promissory note for marriage (La cambiale di matrimonio, 1810) - was staged in Venice. It was followed by a number of operas of the same type, among which two - Touchstone (La pietra del paragone, 1812) and silk staircase (La scala di seta, 1812) are still popular today.
Finally, in 1813, Rossini composed two operas that immortalized his name: Tancred (Tancredi) by Tasso and then a two-act opera buffa Italian in Algeria (L "italiana in Algeri), triumphantly accepted in Venice, and then throughout northern Italy.
The young composer tried to compose several operas for Milan and Venice, but none of them (even the opera that retained its charm Turk in Italy, il Turco in Italy, 1814) - a kind of "couple" to the opera Italian in Algeria) was not successful. In 1815, Rossini was again lucky, this time in Naples, where he signed a contract with the impresario of the San Carlo Theater. It's about about the opera Elizabeth, Queen of England (Elisabetta, regina d "Inghilterra), a virtuoso composition written especially for Isabella Colbran, a Spanish prima donna (soprano) who enjoyed the favor of the Neapolitan court and mistress of the impresario (a few years later, Isabella became Rossini's wife). Then the composer went to Rome, where he planned to write and stage several operas. The second of these was the opera barber of seville (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), first staged on February 20, 1816. The failure of the opera at the premiere turned out to be as loud as its triumph in the future.
Returning, in accordance with the terms of the contract, to Naples, Rossini staged an opera there in December 1816, which, perhaps, was most highly appreciated by his contemporaries - Othello according to Shakespeare: there are really beautiful fragments in it, but the work is spoiled by the libretto, which distorted the tragedy of Shakespeare. Rossini composed the next opera again for Rome: his Cinderella (La cenerentola, 1817) was subsequently favorably received by the public; the premiere did not give any grounds for assumptions about future success. However, Rossini survived the failure much more calmly. In the same 1817 he traveled to Milan to stage an opera magpie thief (La gazza ladra) is a delicately orchestrated melodrama, now almost forgotten, except for the magnificent overture. On his return to Naples, Rossini staged an opera there at the end of the year. Armida (Armida), which was warmly received and is still valued much higher than magpie thief: on resurrection Armides in our time, you can still feel the tenderness, if not the sensuality that this music radiates.
Over the next four years, Rossini managed to compose a dozen more operas, mostly not particularly interesting. However, before the termination of the contract with Naples, he presented the city with two outstanding works. In 1818 he wrote an opera Moses in Egypt (Mose in Egitto), which soon conquered Europe; in fact, this is a kind of oratorio, majestic choirs and the famous "Prayer" are remarkable here. In 1819 Rossini introduced Lake Maiden (La donna del lago), which was a somewhat more modest success, but contained charming romantic music. When the composer finally left Naples (1820), he took Isabella Colbrand with him and married her, but in the future they family life didn't go very well.
In 1822, Rossini, accompanied by his wife, left Italy for the first time: he entered into an agreement with his old friend, the impresario of the San Carlo Theater, who now became director Vienna Opera. The composer brought his latest work, an opera, to Vienna Zelmira (Zelmira), which won the author an unprecedented success. True, some musicians, led by K.M. von Weber, sharply criticized Rossini, but others, among them F. Schubert, gave favorable assessments. As for society, it unconditionally took the side of Rossini. The most remarkable event of Rossini's trip to Vienna was his meeting with Beethoven, which he later recalled in a conversation with R. Wagner.
In the autumn of the same year, Prince Metternich himself summoned the composer to Verona: Rossini was supposed to honor the conclusion of the Holy Alliance with cantatas. In February 1823 he composed for Venice new opera – Semiramis (Semiramida), from which only the overture remains in the concert repertoire. As it were, Semiramide can be recognized as the culmination of the Italian period in the work of Rossini, if only because it was the last opera he composed for Italy. Moreover, Semiramide passed with such brilliance in other countries that after it the reputation of Rossini as the greatest opera composer of the era was no longer in doubt. No wonder Stendhal compared the triumph of Rossini in the field of music with Napoleon's victory at the Battle of Austerlitz.
At the end of 1823, Rossini ended up in London (where he stayed for six months), and before that he spent a month in Paris. The composer was hospitably greeted by King George VI, with whom he sang duets; Rossini was in great demand in secular society as a singer and accompanist. by the most important event that time was receiving an invitation to Paris as artistic director Opera House "Italian Theatre". The significance of this contract, firstly, is that it determined the place of residence of the composer until the end of his days, and secondly, that he confirmed the absolute superiority of Rossini as an opera composer. It must be remembered that Paris was then the center of the musical universe; an invitation to Paris was for the musician the highest honor imaginable.
Rossini took up his new duties on December 1, 1824. Apparently, he managed to improve the management of the Italian Opera, especially in terms of conducting performances. The performances of two previously written operas, which Rossini radically revised for Paris, were performed with great success, and most importantly, he composed a charming comic opera. Count Ory (Le comte Ory). (She was, as one would expect, a huge success when resumed in 1959.) Rossini's next work, which appeared in August 1829, was the opera William Tell (Guillaume Tell), a composition that is usually considered the composer's greatest achievement. Recognized by performers and critics as an absolute masterpiece, this opera, however, never aroused such enthusiasm among the public as barber of seville, Semiramide or even Moses: ordinary listeners thought Tellya an opera too long and cold. However, it cannot be denied that the second act contains the most beautiful music, and fortunately, this opera has not completely disappeared from the modern world repertoire and the listener of our days has the opportunity to make his own judgment about it. We only note that all Rossini's operas created in France were written to French librettos.
After William Tell Rossini did not write another opera, and in the next four decades he created only two significant compositions in other genres. Needless to say, such a cessation of composer activity at the very zenith of skill and fame is a unique phenomenon in the history of the world. musical culture. Many different explanations for this phenomenon have been proposed, but, of course, no one knows the full truth. Some said that Rossini's departure was caused by his rejection of the new Parisian opera idol - J. Meyerbeer; others pointed to the resentment caused to Rossini by the actions of the French government, which, after the revolution in 1830, tried to terminate the contract with the composer. The deterioration of the musician's well-being and even his supposedly incredible laziness were also mentioned. Perhaps all of the above factors played a role, except for the last one. It should be noted that when leaving Paris after William Tell, Rossini was determined to take on a new opera ( Faust). It is also known that he went on and won a six-year trial against the French government over his pension. As for the state of health, having experienced the shock of the death of his beloved mother in 1827, Rossini really felt unwell, at first not very strong, but later progressing at an alarming rate. Everything else is more or less plausible speculation.
During the next Tellem For decades, Rossini, although he retained an apartment in Paris, lived mainly in Bologna, where he hoped to find the peace he needed after the nervous tension of the previous years. True, in 1831 he went to Madrid, where the now widely known Stabat mater(in the first edition), and in 1836 - to Frankfurt, where he met with F. Mendelssohn and thanks to him discovered the work of J.S. Bach. But still, it was Bologna (not counting regular trips to Paris in connection with litigation) that remained the composer's permanent residence. It can be assumed that he was called to Paris not only by court cases. In 1832 Rossini met Olympia Pelissier. Rossini's relationship with his wife had long since left much to be desired; in the end, the couple decided to leave, and Rossini married Olimpia, who became a good wife for the sick Rossini. Finally, in 1855, after a scandal in Bologna and disappointment from Florence, Olympia persuaded her husband to hire a carriage (he did not recognize trains) and go to Paris. Very slowly his physical and state of mind started to improve; a share, if not of gaiety, then of wit, returned to him; music, which had been a taboo subject for years, began to come to his mind again. April 15, 1857 - the name day of Olympia - became a kind of turning point: on this day, Rossini dedicated a cycle of romances to his wife, which he composed in secret from everyone. It was followed by a series of small plays - Rossini called them Sins of my old age; the quality of this music needs no comment for the fans magic shop (La boutique fantasque) - the ballet for which the plays served as the basis. Finally, in 1863, the last - and truly significant - work of Rossini appeared: Little Solemn Mass (Petite messe solennelle). This mass is not very solemn and not at all small, but beautiful in music and imbued with deep sincerity, which attracted the attention of the musicians to the composition.
Rossini died on November 13, 1868 and was buried in Paris at the Père Lachaise cemetery. After 19 years, at the request of the Italian government, the composer's coffin was transported to Florence and buried in the church of Santa Croce next to the ashes of Galileo, Michelangelo, Machiavelli and other great Italians.
(29 II 1792, Pesaro - 13 XI 1868, Passy, near Paris)
Gioacchino Rossini Rossini opened the brilliant 19th century in the music of Italy, followed by a whole galaxy of opera creators: Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini, as if passing the baton of world-famous Italian opera to each other. The author of 37 operas, Rossini raised the opera-buffa genre to an unattainable height. His "The Barber of Seville", written almost a century after the birth of the genre, became the pinnacle and symbol of opera buffa in general. On the other hand, it was Rossini who completed the almost century and a half history of the most famous opera genre- opera-seria, which conquered all of Europe, and opened the way for the development of a new, which came to replace it, the heroic-patriotic opera of the era of romanticism. The main strength of the composer, the heir to Italian national traditions, is in the inexhaustible ingenuity of melodies, captivating, brilliant, virtuoso.
Singer, conductor, pianist, Rossini was distinguished by rare benevolence and sociability. Without any envy, he spoke with admiration about the successes of his young Italian contemporaries, ready to help, suggest, support. His admiration for Beethoven is known, with whom Rossini met in Vienna in last years his life. In one of his letters, he wrote about this in his usual joking manner: “I study Beethoven twice a week, Hayd four, and Mozart daily ... Beethoven is a colossus who often gives you a good cuff in the side, while Mozart always amazing." Weber, with whom they competed, Rossini called "a great genius, and also genuine, because he created original and did not imitate anyone." He also liked Mendelssohn, especially his Songs without Words. At the meeting, Rossini asked Mendelssohn to play Bach for him, “a lot of Bach”: “His genius is simply overwhelming. If Beethoven is a miracle among men, then Bach is a miracle among gods. I subscribed to complete collection his writings." Even to Wagner, whose work was very far from his operatic ideals, Rossini was respectful, interested in the principles of his reform, as evidenced by their meeting in Paris in 1860.
Wit was characteristic of Rossini not only in creativity, but also in life. He claimed that this was foreshadowed by the very date of his birth - February 29, 1792. The composer's birthplace is the seaside town of Pesaro. His father played the trumpet and horn, his mother, although she did not know the notes, was a singer and sang by ear (according to Rossini "out of a hundred Italian singers eighty are in the same position"). Both were members of a traveling troupe. Gioacchino, who showed early talent for music, at the age of 7, along with writing, arithmetic and Latin, studied harpsichord, solfeggio and singing at a boarding school in Bologna. At the age of 8, he already performed in churches, where he was entrusted with the most complex soprano parts, and once he was assigned a children's role in a popular opera. Delighted listeners predicted that Rossini would become famous singer. He accompanied himself from sight, read orchestral scores fluently, and worked as an accompanist and choir director in the theaters of Bologna. Since 1804, his systematic studies of playing the viola and violin began, in the spring of 1806 he entered the Bologna Music Lyceum, and a few months later the famous Bologna Academy of Music unanimously elected him as its member. Then the future glory of Italy was only 14 years old. And at 15 he wrote his first opera. Hearing her a few years later, Stendhal admired her melodies - “the first flowers created by the imagination of Rossini; they had all the freshness of the morning of his life.”
He studied at the Lyceum Rossini (including playing the cello) for about 4 years. His counterpoint teacher was the famous Padre Mattei. Subsequently, Rossini regretted that he could not pass full course compositions - he had to earn a living and help his parents. During the years of study, he independently got acquainted with the music of Haydn and Mozart, organized a string quartet, where he played the viola part; at his insistence, the ensemble played many of Haydn's compositions. From a music lover, he took for a while the scores of Haydn's oratorios and Mozart's operas and rewrote them: at first, only the vocal part, to which he composed his accompaniment, and then compared it with the author's. However, Rossini dreamed of a singer's career, much more prestigious: "when the composer received fifty ducats, the singer got a thousand." According to him, he almost accidentally got on the composer's path - a voice mutation began. At the Lyceum, he tried his hand at different genres: wrote 2 symphonies, 5 string quartets, variations for solo instruments with orchestra, cantata. One of the symphonies and a cantata were performed in lyceum concerts.
Upon graduation, the 18-year-old composer on November 3, 1810 saw his opera for the first time on the stage of the Venetian theater. The next autumn season, Rossini was engaged by the theater in Bologna to write a two-act opera buffa. During 1812 he composed and staged 6 operas, including one zepa. “I had ideas quickly and only lacked the time to write them down. I never belonged to those who sweat when composing music. The opera buffa "The Touchstone" was staged in the largest theater Italy, Milan's La Scala, where it took place 50 times in a row; to listen to her, according to Stendhal, “crowds of people came to Milan from Parma, Piacenza, Bergamo and Brescia and from all the cities for twenty miles in the vicinity. Rossini became the first man of his region; Everyone wanted to see him no matter what." And for the 20-year-old author, the opera brought liberation from military service: The general who commanded in Milan liked the touchstone so much that he turned to the viceroy, and the army was missing one soldier.
The turning point in Rossini's work was 1813, when, within three and a half months, two operas, popular to this day ("Tankred" and "Italian in Algeria"), saw the light of the stage in the theaters of Venice, and the third, which failed at the premiere and is now forgotten, brought an immortal overture - Rossini used it twice more, and now everyone knows it as the overture to the Barber of Seville. After 4 years, the impresario of one of the best theaters in Italy and the largest in Europe, the Neapolitan San Carlo, enterprising and successful Domenico Barbaia, nicknamed the Viceroy of Naples, signed a long contract with Rossini, for 6 years. The prima donna of the troupe was the beautiful Spaniard Isabella Colbran, who had a magnificent voice and dramatic talent. She had known the composer for a long time - in the same year, 14-year-old Rossini and Colbrand, 7 years older than him, were elected members of the Bologna Academy. Now she was a friend of Barbaia and at the same time enjoyed the patronage of the king. Colbrand soon became Rossini's lover, and in 1822, his wife.
For 6 years (1816-1822), the composer wrote 10 opera seria for Naples, counting on Colbran, and 9 for other theaters, mainly buffa, since Colbran did not play comic roles. Among them are The Barber of Seville and Cinderella. At the same time, a new romantic genre was born, which in the future will supplant the opera-seria: a folk-heroic opera dedicated to the theme of the struggle for liberation, depicting large masses of people, extensive use of choral scenes that occupy no less space than arias (“Moses”, “ Mahomet II).
1822 opens new page in the life of Rossini. In the spring, together with the Neapolitan troupe, he goes to Vienna, where his operas have been successfully staged for 6 years. For 4 months, Rossini is bathed in glory, he is recognized on the streets, crowds gather under the windows of his house to see the composer, and sometimes listen to him sing. In Vienna, he meets Beethoven - sick, lonely, huddled in a squalid apartment, whom Rossini tries in vain to help. The Vienna tour was followed by the London tour, which was even longer and more successful. For 7 months, until the end of July 1824, he conducts his operas in London, acts as an accompanist and singer in public and private concerts, including in the royal palace: the English king is one of his most loyal admirers. The cantata "The Complaint of the Muses about the Death of Lord Byron" was also written here, at the premiere of which the composer sang the part of the solo tenor. At the end of the tour, Rossini took out of England a fortune - 175 thousand francs, which made him remember the fee for the first opera - 200 lire. And it hasn't even been 15 years since then...
After London, Rossini was waiting for Paris and a well-paid position as head of the Italian Opera. However, Rossini stayed in this post for only 2 years, although he made a dizzying career: “composer of His Majesty the King and inspector of singing of all musical institutions” (the highest musical position in France), member of the Council for the Management of Royal Musical Schools, member of the committee of the Grand Opera Theatre. Here Rossini created his innovative score - the folk-heroic opera "William Tell". Born on the eve of the revolution of 1830, it was perceived by contemporaries as a direct call to insurrection. And on this peak, at the age of 37, Rossini stopped his operatic activity. However, he did not stop writing. 3 years before his death, he said to one of his guests: “Do you see this bookcase full of musical manuscripts? All this was written after William Tell. But I don't post anything; I write because I can't do otherwise.
The largest works of Rossini of this period belong to the genre of spiritual oratorio (Stabat Mater, Little Solemn Mass). A lot was also created by the chamber vocal music. The most famous ariettas and duets were "Musical Evenings", others were included in the "Album of Italian Songs", "Mixture of Vocal Music". Rossini also wrote instrumental pieces, often providing them with ironic titles: "Restrained Pieces", "Four Appetizers and Four Desserts", "Pain Relieving Music", etc.
Since 1836, Rossini returned to Italy for almost 20 years. He devotes himself to pedagogical work, supports the newly founded Experimental musical gymnasium in Florence, the Bologna Musical Lyceum, which he once graduated from himself. For the last 13 years, Rossini has been living in France again, both in Paris itself and in a villa in the suburbs of Passy, surrounded by honor and glory. After the death of Colbrand (1845), with whom he broke up about 10 years ago, Rossini marries a Frenchwoman, Olympia Pelissier. Contemporaries characterize her as an unremarkable woman, but endowed with a sympathetic and good heart However, Rossini's Italian friends consider her mean and inhospitable. The composer regularly arranges receptions that are famous throughout Paris. These “Rossini Saturdays” bring together the most brilliant company, attracted by both refined conversation and exquisite cuisine, of which the composer was known and even was the inventor of some recipes. A sumptuous dinner was followed by a concert, and the host often sang and accompanied the singers. The last such evening took place on September 20, 1868, when the composer was in his 77th year; he performed the recently composed elegy "Farewell to Life".
Rossini died on November 13, 1868 at his villa in Passy near Paris. In his will, he allocated two and a half million francs for the creation of a music school in his native Pesaro, where a monument was erected to him 4 years before, as well as a large amount on the establishment in Passy of a nursing home for French and Italian singers who have made a career in France. About 4,000 people attended the funeral mass. The funeral procession was accompanied by two battalions of infantry and the bands of two legions of the National Guard, who performed excerpts from Rossini's operas and sacred works.
The composer was buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris next to Bellini, Cherubini and Chopin. Upon learning of the death of Rossini, Verdi wrote: “A great name has died out in the world! It was the most popular name of our era, fame is the widest - and this was the glory of Italy! He invited Italian composers to honor the memory of Rossini by writing a collective Requiem, which was to be solemnly performed in Bologna on the first anniversary of his death. In 1887, the embalmed body of Rossini was transported to Florence and buried in the Cathedral of Santa Croce, in the pantheon of the great men of Italy, next to the graves of Michelangelo and Galileo.
A. Koenigsberg
Italian composer. One of the outstanding representatives of the opera genre in the 19th century. His work is at the same time the completion of the development music XVIII V. and opens the way to the artistic conquests of romanticism. His first opera, Demetrio and Polibio (1806), was still written quite in line with the traditional opera seria. Rossini turned to this genre repeatedly. Among the best essays"Tancred" (1813), "Othello" (1816), "Moses in Egypt" (1818), "Zelmira" (1822, Naples, libretto by A. Tottola), "Semiramide" (1823).
Rossini made a huge contribution to the development of opera buffa. The first experiments in this genre were "Promissory note for marriage" (1810, Venice, libretto by G. Rossi), "Signor Bruschino" (1813) and a number of other works. It was in the buffa opera that Rossini created his own type of overture, based on the contrast of a slow introduction, followed by a swift allegro. One of the earliest classical examples of such an overture is seen in his opera The Silk Stairs (1812). Finally, in 1813, Rossini created his first masterpiece in the buffon genre: "Italian in Algiers", where the features of the composer's mature style are already quite visible, especially in the wonderful finale of the first d. His success was also the buffa opera "The Turk in Italy" ( 1814). Two years later, the composer writes his the best opera"The Barber of Seville", which rightfully occupies an outstanding place in the history of the genre.
Created in 1817, "Cinderella" testifies to Rossini's desire to expand the palette of artistic means. Purely buffoonish elements are replaced by a combination of comic and lyrical beginnings, in the same year the Thieving Magpie appears, written in the genre of an opera semi-series, in which lyric-comedy elements coexist with tragic ones (how can one not recall Mozart's Don Giovanni). In 1819, Rossini created one of his most romantic works - "Lady of the Lake" (based on the novel by W. Scott).
Among his later works, the Siege of Corinth (1826, Paris, is a French edition of his earlier opera-series Mohammed II), The Comte Ory (1828), written in the style of a French comic opera (in which the composer used a number of the most successful themes from the opera "Journey to Reims", created three years earlier on the occasion of the coronation of King Charles X in Reims), and, finally, Rossini's last masterpiece - "William Tell" (1829). This opera, with its drama, individually delineated characters, large through scenes, already belongs to another musical era- age of romanticism. This work completes Rossini's career as an opera composer. In the next 30 years, he created a number of vocal and instrumental works (among them "Stabat Mater", etc.), vocal and piano miniatures.
The Belcanto Foundation organizes concerts in Moscow featuring the music of Gioacchino Rossini. On this page you can see the poster of upcoming concerts in 2019 with the music of Gioacchino Rossini and buy a ticket for a date convenient for you.
Rossini Gioacchino (1792 - 1868) - Italian composer, nicknamed "the swan of Pesar". Trumpeter's son opera singer. As a child, Rossini moved to Bologna, where he began his studies on the harpsichord; he also took up singing. For 15 years, Rossini entered the Bologna Music Lyceum, where he studied until 1810; his composition teacher was Abbe Mattei. At the same time, Rossini began to conduct opera performances. The first creative experiments of Rossini belong to the same time - vocal numbers for a traveling troupe and a one-act comic opera "Promissory Note for Marriage" (1810). The young composer tried to compose several operas for Milan and Venice, but none of them were successful.
Then the composer went to Rome, where he planned to write and stage several operas. The second of these was the opera The Barber of Seville, first staged on February 20, 1816. The failure of the opera at the premiere turned out to be as loud as its triumph in the future. The following comic operas by Rossini, like Donizetti, did not introduce anything fundamentally new, for all their individual artistic merits.
Not having time to write an overture, he used the overture from "Elizabeth" in this opera. The music of "The Barber of Seville", temperamental, sparkling with wit and fun, is rooted in the favorite genres of Italian folk dance and song. Characteristics actors(mainly in arias) are distinguished by accuracy and figurative relief.
Later losing interest in comic opera, Rossini in later years devoted his work mainly to heroic-patriotic opera. This should be seen as a reflection of the growth of patriotic feelings and national consciousness during the liberation struggle of the Italian people.
Gioachino Rossini had a rare melodic talent. An endless stream of captivating melodies, sometimes sincerely lyrical, sometimes sparkling, fills the music of his operas, which Pushkin compared with young kisses, a stream and splashes of hissing ai. The orchestra in Rossini's operas is not limited to an accompanying role - it is distinguished by dramatic expressiveness, participates in the characteristics of characters and stage situations.
If the composition of Rossini's operas is traditional (musical numbers alternating with recitatives), then in essence his work led to the renewal of the main directions of Italian operatic art and determined his further paths.
Gioacchino Rossini is rightfully considered one of the greatest composers in history. His famous opera"The Barber of Seville" is probably remembered by every person familiar with music. This article will detail the life of Gioacchino Rossini as well as his most famous pieces of music.
Rossini's childhood
Many different books and publications have been written about Rossini. The most common among them is biographical work Helena Bronfin 1973. This book describes in detail all those events that, one way or another, were connected with the life and work of the composer Rossini. Elena Bronfin describes in detail the childhood years of little Gioacchino, tracing his path to the creative pinnacle.
Gioacchino Antonio Rossini was born on February 29, 1792 in the small Italian town of Pesaro. Gioacchino's parents were musicians. His father played wind instruments, and his mother had a beautiful voice with an expressive soprano. Naturally, the parents tried to make little Gioacchino fall in love with music.
Gioacchino's carefree childhood overshadowed French revolution. Besides, myself future composer, according to many sources, was a very lazy and even naughty little boy. Parents saved the situation in time by giving Gioacchino to study with a local pastor. It was the priest who taught Rossini everything necessary lessons compositions.
The first creative endeavors of the young Gioacchino
At the beginning of the 19th century, the Rossini family moved to Lugo. It was in this city that the young Gioacchino gave his first opera concert. Possessing a very high treble, the future great composer aroused considerable interest among the public.
Some sources indicate that Rossini began to release his first works as a composer by the age of 12. In those small sonatas written by the very young Gioacchino, one can trace very competent inclusions of operatic tendencies.
Of great importance for the future creative manifestations of Gioacchino was friendship with the famous Italian tenor Mombelli. Together they wrote musical numbers, composed the libretto and developed theatrical performances. In 1808, the composer Rossini wrote a whole mass. It was male choir, accompanied by a bright accompaniment of the organ and orchestra.
About the early creative period
In 1810, the fate of Gioacchino changed dramatically: he was noticed by two famous Italian musicians at that time: Moranli and Morolli. This couple wrote a letter to Rossini expressing their desire to see the young Gioacchino in Venice. The aspiring composer immediately agreed. Gioacchino's task was to write a musical theme for the theatrical libretto. The production was called "Marriage on a bill." It was this work that became the brightest debut of Rossini as a composer.
The main quality that the composer Rossini possessed was the incredible speed and ease of writing music. This was noted by many of the musician's contemporaries: Gioacchino seemed to have known and understood for a long time exactly how this or that composition should line up. At the same time, the musician himself, according to many sources, led a very disorderly and idle lifestyle. In Venice, he walked a lot and had fun, but at the same time he always managed to write the right order on time.
"The Barber of Seville"
In 1813, the composer Rossini wrote a truly grandiose work that turned his whole life upside down - this is "Italian in Algeria". Excellent music, deep content of the libretto, bright patriotic moods that the work set - all this the best way affected the future career of the composer.
However, the musician started something more grandiose. A monumental two-act opera that would become the pearl of Italian music - that's what Gioacchino Rossini was striving for. The Barber of Seville has become such an opera. The work was based on the famous 19th century comedy by Beaumarchais.
The main feature of Gioacchino's work on the work was, again, incredible lightness. Written in less than a month, "The Barber of Seville" became the first work of Rossini, famous outside of Italy. So, an amazing incident happened to Gioacchino in the Austrian Empire: it was there that the composer met Beethoven himself, who spoke positively about the "barber".
Rossini's new ideas
The main specialization of Gioacchino was comedy. Composer Rossini composed musical themes specifically for light, comedic librettos. However, in 1817 the musician went beyond the comic genre, which is so often associated with the name of Gioacchino Rossini. The opera "The Thieving Magpie" was one of the composer's first works, which was rather of a somewhat dramatic nature. Written in 1816, the opera Othello was a Shakespearean tragedy.
Gioacchino was more and more overgrown with ideas and new ideas. milestone on creative way Gioacchino was a monumental opera series called "Moses in Egypt". Rossini worked on this work for a month and a half. The premiere of "Moses" took place in Naples, where it was accompanied by a huge success.
The composer Rossini moved further and further away from the "light" genres, composing heavier and monumental works. Such famous historical series as "Mahomet II", "Zelmira", "Semiramis" enjoyed great success both in Italy itself and abroad.
Vienna, London and Paris
The Austrian, English and Parisian periods played a big role in Rossini's life. The reason for sending the composer to Vienna was the resounding success of the opera Zelmira. In Austria, the composer first encountered mass unfavorable criticism: many German composers believed that any opera by Rossini did not deserve the success that accompanied Gioacchino in almost all of Europe. However, Beethoven was not among the haters. Already completely deaf, Ludwig closely followed the work of Rossini, reading his music, in literally, on music paper. Beethoven showed great interest in Gioacchino; he was extremely flattering about almost all of his works.
In 1823 the composer received an invitation to the Royal London Theatre. Rossini's opera "Italian in Algiers" and some of his other works were performed here. It was in England that Gioacchino acquired both devoted admirers and fierce enemies. Rossini received even more hatred in Paris: envious musicians tried in every possible way to discredit the composer. For Rossini, the time has come for a sharp controversy with critics.
Almost all musical figures of the 19th, 20th or 21st centuries speak of one thing: Rossini "raised from his knees" an unusually low level musical creativity in England and France. Inspired by the works of Gioacchino, the musicians finally began to show themselves, providing the world with more and more beauty.
Getting closer to creativity
In the late twenties of the 19th century, Rossini agreed to work as the head of the Italian Opera House in Paris. However, he did not stay in this position for long: after a couple of years, Rossini's work became widely known throughout Europe, and therefore the composer decided to accept the title of "General Inspector of Singing and Composer His Majesty in France." Gioacchino received an honorary position under the king.
In Paris, Rossini wrote another musical masterpiece called "Journey to Reims, or Hotel of the Golden Line". This opera was played at the coronation of Charles X. However, the work was not successful with the general public.
After the "Journey" Rossini took up the development of the monumental opera "Mohammed II". This heroic-tragic work was distinguished by many innovative elements, which many critics could not fail to notice. Further, "Moses in Egypt" and "The Siege of Corinth" were written. All these works had a strong influence on young people. French composers: Aubert, Boildieu, Herold and others.
"William Tell"
Rossini, working in two directions at once French opera- comic and tragic, conceived the production great work, completely original and innovative. Something new, not like any previous work - that's what Gioacchino Rossini was striving for. The works of past years, though considered innovative, but only in places. That is why the composer set about composing an opera about the brave archer Wilhelm, the hero of an old Swiss legend.
The main feature of the work was the borrowing of elements of the local Swiss flavor: folk tunes, combined with Italian classical songs, made up an unusually original opera. It is not surprising that everyone was looking forward to "Wilhelm". The product was in development for about six months. This four-bar opera premiered in 1828.
The reaction from both the public and critics was very cold. The work seemed to many tedious, complex and simply boring. In addition, the composition lasted about 4 hours. Almost no one attended the opera. The theater management, trying to save the situation somehow, greatly reduced the work and began to present it in a distorted form. Of course, Rossini did not like this. He left the theatre, promising himself never to continue his career as a composer.
However, not everyone was outraged by the opera. Many novice composers saw in "Wilhelm" something surprising and beautiful. Over time, the work nevertheless acquired the status of a masterpiece, one of the cult operas of Gioacchino Rossini.
Biography of the former composer
Gioacchino "silenced" at the age of 37. Behind him were about 40 operas, great fame and resounding success. The rapid development of Romanticism in Europe also influenced Rossini's departure from art.
After spending several years in oblivion, Gioacchino nevertheless set about writing small overtures. However, almost nothing remained of the former intensity. After moving to Italy, the composer became interested pedagogical activity. Rossini directed the Bologna Lyceum, of which he himself had been a pupil in his childhood. Thanks to Gioacchino musical education received its rapid and qualitative development.
In 1855, Rossini again decides to return to Paris. It is here that he spends the last 13 years of his life.
Rossini Culinary
What could captivate Gioacchino Rossini? Overtures, suites and operas are already left behind. The once great composer decided to firmly move away from writing music. However, he broke his promise only a few times. So, in 1863, "A Little Solemn Mass" was written - a rather famous essay to this day.
Gioacchino was a refined culinary specialist. Witty Rossini came up with an incredible amount of a wide variety of dishes. The composer was also a great lover of winemaking. His cellar was simply bursting with a wide variety of wines, of all types and varieties. However, cooking ruined Rossini. Former composer began to suffer from obesity and stomach problems.
Composer's death
No one else in Paris was famous for such a celebrity as Gioacchino Rossini. "The Barber of Seville", "William Tell" - the author of all these works, although retired, enjoyed great success in France.
Rossini arranged grandiose receptions. The most famous personalities and politicians sought the opportunity to visit them. Sometimes Rossini conducted, while still attracting the attention of the European musical community. The personality of Gioacchino was truly great: Wagner, Franz Liszt, Saint-Saens and many other great composers of the world communicated with him.
The composer died on November 13, 1868. The composer bequeathed all his property to the Italian town of Pesaro, the place where the musician was born.
Heritage
Gioacchino left behind about 40 major operas and even more overtures with small compositions. Rossini wrote his first real opera, A Marriage Promissory Note, at the age of 18. It is impossible not to mention one more grandiose work created in 1817 - the opera Cinderella. Gioacchino Rossini wrote a fun and light comedy based on the famous fairy tale. The opera was a great success with both critics and the general public.
In addition to operas, Gioacchino wrote a variety of psalms, masses, cants and hymns. Rossini's legacy is truly great. His inventive and innovative style has been studied by many composers for many years. Rossini's music remains relevant today.
