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, the one-act farce opera 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 The Silk Staircase (La scala di seta, 1812) - are still popular.
Finally, in 1813, Rossini composed two operas that immortalized his name: Tancredi by Tasso and then the two-act opera buffa Italian in Algiers (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 Il Turco in Italia, 1814, which retained its charm, the Turks in Italy, a kind of “pair” to the opera The Italian in Algeria) was successful. In 1815, Rossini was again lucky, this time in Naples, where he signed a contract with the impresario of the San Carlo Theater. We are talking about the opera Elizabeth, Queen of England (Elisabetta, regina d "Inghilterra), a virtuoso composition written specifically for Isabella Colbran, a Spanish prima donna (soprano), who enjoyed the favor of the Neapolitan court and impresario's mistress (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 which was barber of seville(Il Barbiere di Siviglia), first staged on February 20, 1816. The failure of the opera at the premiere was as loud as its triumph in the future.
Returning, in accordance with the terms of the contract, to Naples, Rossini staged there in December 1816 the opera, which, perhaps, was most highly appreciated by his contemporaries - Othello according to Shakespeare: it contains really beautiful fragments, but the work is spoiled by the libretto, which distorted Shakespeare's tragedy. 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 the opera The Thieving Magpie (La gazza ladra) - an elegantly orchestrated melodrama, now almost forgotten, except for a magnificent overture. On his return to Naples, Rossini staged the opera Armida at the end of the year, which was warmly received and is still valued much higher than The Thieving Magpie: in our time, the resurrection of Armida still feels tenderness, if not sensuality, that this music exudes.
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 gave the city two outstanding works. In 1818 he wrote the opera Moses in Egypt (Mos 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 presented The Lady of the Lake (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 Colbran 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 to Vienna his latest work - the opera 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 a new opera for Venice - Semiramida, from which it has now remained in concert repertoire overture only. Be that as it may, Semiramide can be recognized as the culmination of the Italian period in the work of Rossini, if only because it was last opera composed by him for Italy. Moreover, Semiramide passed with such brilliance in other countries that after her, Rossini's reputation 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 snapped up 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"Italien 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. Two previously written operas were performed with great success, which Rossini radically revised for Paris, and most importantly, he composed the charming comic opera Le Comte Ory (Le comte Ory). (It was, as you might expect, a huge success when it was relaunched in 1959.) Next piece Rossini, which appeared in August 1829, was the opera William Tell (Guillaume Tell), a work 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 The Barber of Seville, Semiramide or even Moses: ordinary listeners considered Tell to be 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 wrote no more operas, and in the next four decades he created only two significant compositions in other genres. Needless to say, such a termination composer activity at the very zenith of excellence and glory - 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, leaving Paris after William Tell, Rossini had a firm intention to take on a new opera (Faust). He is also known to have continued and won a six-year lawsuit 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 decade that followed Tell, Rossini, although he retained an apartment in Paris, lived mainly in Bologna, where he hoped to find the rest he needed after the nervous tension of the previous years. True, in 1831 he went to Madrid, where the now widely known Stabat Mater appeared (in the first edition), and in 1836 to Frankfurt, where he met 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 fans of the Magic Shop (La boutique fantasque) - the ballet for which the plays served as the basis. Finally, in 1863, Rossini's last - and truly significant - work appeared: A 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.
Portrait of Rossini
Gioachino Rossini
Gioacchino Antonio Rossini(Italian Gioachino Antonio Rossini; February 29, Pesaro, Italy - November 13, Ryuelli, France) - Italian composer, author of 39 operas, sacred and chamber music.
Biography
Rossini's father was a horn player, his mother was a singer; the boy grew up from childhood in a musical environment, and as soon as his musical talent, was sent to develop his voice to Angelo Tesei in Bologna. In 1807, Rossini entered the Liceo filarmonico in Bologna as a student of composition at the Liceo filarmonico in Bologna, but interrupted his studies as soon as he took a course in simple counterpoint, since, according to Mattei, the knowledge of the latter was quite enough to be able to write operas.
Rossini's first experience was a 1-act opera: "La cambiale di matrimonio" ("The marriage bill") (1810 at the San Mose theater in Venice), which attracted little attention, as well as the second: "L" equivoco stravagante "( “A Strange Case”) (Bologna 1811); however, they liked them so much that Rossini was overwhelmed with work, and by 1812 he had already written 5 operas. The following year, after his Tancred was staged on the stage of the Fenice Theater in Venice, Italians have already decided that Rossini is the greatest living opera composers Italy, - an opinion that was strengthened by the opera "Italian in Algeria".
But the greatest triumph was brought to Rossini in 1816 by the production on the stage of the Argentina Theater in Rome of his The Barber of Seville; In Rome, The Barber of Seville was met with great distrust, as they considered it impudent that anyone should dare to write, after Paisiello, an opera on the same subject; at the first performance, Rossini's opera was received even coldly; the second performance, which the frustrated Rossini himself did not conduct, on the contrary, was an intoxicating success: the audience even staged a torchlight procession.
In the same year, Othello followed in Naples, in which Rossini completely banished recitativo secco for the first time, then Cinderella in Rome and The Thieving Magpie in 1817 in Milan. In 1815-23, Rossini signed a contract with the theatrical entrepreneur Barbaia, according to which, for an annual fee of 12,000 lire (4,450 rubles), he was obliged to supply 2 new operas every year; Barbaia was at that time in the hands of not only the Neapolitan theaters, but also the Scala Theater in Milan and the Italian Opera in Vienna.
In the year the composer's first wife dies. In Rossini he marries Olympia Pelissier. In the city he settled again in Paris, making his home one of the most fashionable music salons.
Rossini died on November 13, 1868 in the town of Passy near Paris. In 1887, the ashes of the composer were transferred to Florence.
The name of Rossini is the conservatory in his hometown, created according to his will.
operas
- "Marriage bill" (La Cambiale di Matrimonio) - 1810
- "Strange Case" (L'equivoco stravagante) - 1811
- "Demetrius and Polybius" (Demetrio e Polibio) - 1812
- « Happy Deception» (L'inganno felice) - 1812
- "Ciro in Babylon, or the Fall of Belshazzar" (Ciro in Babilonia (La caduta di Baldassare)) - 1812
- The Silk Staircase (La scala di seta) - 1812
- "The touchstone" (La pietra del paragone) - 1812
- "Chance makes a thief" (L'occasione fa il ladro (Il cambio della valigia)) - 1812
- Signor Bruschino (Il Signor Bruschino (or Il figlio per azzardo)) - 1813
- " Tancredi"(Tancredi) - 1813
- "Italian in Algiers" (L'Italiana in Algeri) - 1813
- "Aureliano in Palmira" (Aureliano in Palmira) - 1813
- "Turk in Italy" (Il Turco in Italia) - 1814
- "Sigismund" (Sigismondo) - 1814
- "Elizabeth of England" (Elisabetta regina d'Inghilterra) - 1815
- "Torvald and Dorliska" (Torvaldo e Dorliska) - 1815
- "Almaviva, or the Vain Precaution" (The Barber of Seville) (Almaviva (ossia L'inutile precauzione (Il Barbiere di Siviglia)) - 1816
- "Newspaper" (La gazzetta (Il matrimonio per concorso)) - 1816
- "Othello, or the Venetian Moor" (Otello o Il moro di Venezia) - 1816
- "Cinderella, or the Triumph of Virtue" (La Cenerentola o sia La bontà in trionfo) - 1817
- "The Thieving Magpie" (La gazza ladra) - 1817
- "Armida" (Armida) - 1817
- "Adelaide of Burgundy, or Otto, King of Italy" (Adelaide di Borgogna or Ottone, re d'Italia) - 1817
- "Moses in Egypt" (Mosè in Egitto) - 1818
- "Adina, or Caliph of Baghdad" (Adina or Il califfo di Bagdad) - 1818
- "Ricciardo and Zoraide" (Ricciardo e Zoraide) - 1818
- "Hermione" (Ermione) - 1819
- "Eduard and Christina" (Eduardo e Cristina) - 1819
- The Lady of the Lake (La donna del lago) - 1819
- "Bianca and Faliero" ("Council of Three") (Bianca e Falliero (Il consiglio dei tre)) - 1819
- "Mohammed II" (Maometto secondo) - 1820
- "Matilde di Shabran, or Beauty and the Iron Heart" (Matilde di Shabran, or Bellezza e Cuor di Ferro) - 1821
- "Zelmira" (Zelmira) - 1822
- "Semiramide" (Semiramide) - 1823
- “Journey to Reims, or the Golden Lily Hotel" (Il viaggio a Reims (L'albergo del giglio d'oro)) - 1825
- "The Siege of Corinth" (Le Siège de Corinthe) - 1826
- "Moses and Pharaoh, or Passage through the Red Sea" (Moïse et Pharaon (Le passage de la Mer Rouge) - 1827 (reworking of "Moses in Egypt")
- "Count Ory" (Le Comte Ory) - 1828
- "William Tell" (Guillaume Tell) - 1829
Other musical works
- Il pianto d'armonia per la morte d'Orfeo
- Petite Messe Solennelle
- Stabat mater
- Cats Duet (attr.)
- bassoon concerto
- Messa di Gloria
Notes
Links
- Brief summaries (synopses) of Rossini's operas on the site "100 operas"
- Gioachino Antonio Rossini: Sheet music at the International Music Score Library Project
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .
See what "Rossini" is in other dictionaries:
- (Gioachino Rossini) the famous Italian composer (1792 1868), who made up an era in the history of the development of Italian opera, although many of his operas are now forgotten. In his youth, R. studied at the Bologna Conservatory with Stanislav Mattei and already ... ... Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron
Gioachino Antonio Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini Composer Date of birth: February 29, 1792 ... Wikipedia
- (Rossini) Gioachino Antonio (29 II 1792, Pesaro 13 XI 1868, Passy, near Paris) Italian. composer. His father, a man of advanced, republican convictions, was a musician of the mountains. spirit. orchestra, mother a singer. Learned to play on the back ... ... Music Encyclopedia
- (Rossini) Gioacchino Antonio, Italian composer. Born into a family of musicians (father is a trumpeter and horn player, mother is a singer). From childhood, he studied singing, ... ... Big soviet encyclopedia
- (Gioachino Rossini) the famous Italian composer (1792 1868), who made up an era in the history of the development of Italian opera, although many of his operas are now forgotten. In his youth, R. studied at the Bologna Conservatory with Stanislav Mattei and ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary F. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron
ROSSINI- (Gioacchino Antonio R. (1792 1868) Italian composer; see also PEZARSKY) Now I drink the foamy Rossini In a new way again And I see only through love, That the skies are so childishly blue. Kuz915 (192) … Given name in Russian poetry of the XX century: a dictionary of personal names
ROSSINI- Gioachino Antonio, composer, in which last time the genius of the truly national Italian opera was embodied, with its caressing euphony and melodic richness; genus. Feb 29 (By own words March 2) 1792 in Pesaro in Romagna (hence ... ... Music dictionary Riemann
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 the 1973 biographical work of Elena Bronfin. 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.
The carefree childhood of Gioacchino was overshadowed by the French Revolution. In addition, the future composer himself, 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 all the necessary composition lessons.
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.
Great value for future creative manifestations Gioacchino had a 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 a male choir, accompanied by a vibrant organ and orchestra accompaniment.
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 the creative path of Gioacchino there 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
Austrian, English and Parisian periods played big role in the life of Rossini. The reason for sending the composer to Vienna was resounding success 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 big interest to 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 are talking about one thing: Rossini "raised from his knees" 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, which bears the name "Journey to Reims, or the 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 simultaneously in two directions of 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 others communicated with him. greatest composers peace.
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 short essays. 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 cheerful and light comedy based on 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. Remains actual music Rossini today.
Gioacchino Rossini
Rossini was born in Pesaro, in Marche, in 1792, in musical family. The father of the future composer was a horn player, and his mother was a singer.
Soon musical talent was discovered in the child, after which he was sent to develop his voice. They sent him to Bologna, to Angelo Tesei. There he also began to learn how to play.
In addition, the famous tenor Mateo Babbini gave him several lessons. Somewhat later, he became a student of Abbe Matei. He taught him only the knowledge of simple counterpoint. According to the abbot, the knowledge of counterpoint was quite enough to write operas himself.
And so it happened. Rossini's first debut was the one-act opera La cambiale di matrimonio, The Marriage Promissory Note, which, like his next opera staged at the Venetian theater, attracted the attention of the general public. She liked them, and liked them so much that Rossini was literally overwhelmed with work.
By 1812, the composer had already written five operas. After they were staged in Venice, the Italians came to the conclusion that Rossini is the greatest living opera composer in Italy.
Most of all, the audience liked his "The Barber of Seville". There is an opinion that this opera is not only the most ingenious creation of Rossini, but also the best work in the opera buff genre. Rossini created it in twenty days based on a play by Beaumarchais.
An opera has already been written on this plot, and therefore New Opera was taken as arrogance. Therefore, the first time she was perceived rather coldly. Gioacchino, upset for the second time, refused to conduct in his opera, and it was precisely for the second time that she received the most magnificent response. There was even a torchlight procession.
New operas and life in France
During the writing of his opera Otello, Rossini completely dispensed with recitativo secco. And safely continued to write operas further. Soon he signed a contract with Domenico Barbaia, to whom he undertook to deliver two new operas every year. He had in his hands at that moment not only the Neapolitan operas, but also La Scala in Milan.
Around this time, Rossini married singer Isabella Colbran. In 1823 he went to London. He was invited there by the director of His Majesty's Theatre. There, in about five months, together with lessons and concerts, he earns approximately £ 10,000.
Gioachino Antonio RossiniSoon he settled in Paris, and for a long time. There he became director of the Théâtre Italienne in Paris.
At the same time, Rossini did not possess organizational skills at all. As a result, the theater found itself in a very disastrous situation.
In general, after french revolution Rossini lost not only this, but also the rest of his positions and retired.
During his life in Paris, he became a true Frenchman and in 1829 wrote William Tell, his last stage work.
Completion of a creative career and the last years of life
Soon, in 1836, he had to return to Italy. At first he lived in Milan, then he moved and lived in his villa near Bologna.
In 1847, his first wife died, and then, two years later, he married Olympia Pelissier.
For some time he revived again because of the huge success of his last work, but in 1848 the disturbances that occurred had a very bad effect on his well-being, and he completely retired.
He had to flee to Florence, and then he recovered and returned to Paris. He made his house one of the most fashionable salons at that time.
Rossini died in 1868 from pneumonia.
What praises the poets of Gioacchino Rossini lavished! Heinrich Heine called him "divine maestro", Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin - "Europe's darling" ... but, perhaps, it would be more correct to call him the savior of Italian opera. Italy is always associated with opera art, and it is not easy to imagine that the Italian opera could lose ground, degenerate into something meaningless - into empty entertainment in the opera buffa and a series of far-fetched plots in the opera seria. However, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the situation was just that. Rossini's genius was needed to correct the situation, to inspire Italian opera new life.
The life of Gioacchino Rossini was connected with opera in his childhood: having been born in Pesaro, the boy wandered around Italy with his father and mother, a horn orchestra player and opera singer. There was no talk of systematic studies, but hearing and musical memory developed beautifully.
Gioacchino possessed beautiful voice. Due to his overly ardent temperament, his parents doubted that he could become opera singer, but believed that he could become a composer. There were grounds for such assumptions - by the age of thirteen the boy had already created several sonatas for string instruments. He was introduced to the composer Stanislao Mattei. With him, the fourteen-year-old Rossini began to study composition at the Bologna Musical Lyceum. Even then, Gioachino determined the direction of his future creative way, having created the opera "Demetrio and Polibio" - however, it was staged only in 1812, therefore, it cannot be considered Rossini's operatic debut.
Rossini's real operatic debut came later, in 1810, with the opera-farce The Marriage Promissory Note, presented at the San Moise theater in Venice. The composer spent a few days to create music. The speed and ease of work will continue to be hallmark Rossini. The following comic operas - Strange Case and Happy Deception - were also staged in Venice, and the plot of the latter was used by Giovanni Paisiello before Rossini (a similar situation will still arise in the composer's creative biography). This was followed by the first opera seria after Demetrio and Polibio - Cyrus in Babylon. And finally, an order from La Scala. The success of the opera The Touchstone, created for this theater, made the twenty-year-old composer famous. International fame was brought to him by the buffa opera "" and the opera on the heroic plot "Tancred".
It cannot be said that creative biography Rossini was a continuous "road of glory" - for example, "Turk in Italy", created in 1814 for Milan, did not bring him success. Circumstances were much more successful in Naples, where Rossini created the opera Elisabeth, Queen of England. the main role intended for Isabella Colbran. A few years later, the prima donna became the wife of Rossini ... But this is not the only thing that is remarkable about "Elizabeth": if before the singers arbitrarily improvised fioritures, demonstrating their brilliant technique, now Rossini put an end to this arbitrariness of the performers, carefully writing out all the vocal embellishments and demanding their exact reproduction.
A remarkable event in the life of Rossini took place in 1816 - his opera Almaviva was first staged in Rome, later known under the title "". To title it in the same way as the comedy of Pierre Augustin Beaumarchais, the author did not dare, because before him this plot was embodied in the opera by Giovanni Paisiello. Opera buffa failed in Rome and was a big hit in theaters other than Italy. According to Stendhal, after Napoleon, Rossini became the only person who is talked about throughout Europe.
Rossini creates another comic opera - "", but written in 1817 "" is closer to the drama. In the future, the composer is more interested in dramatic, tragic and legendary plots: "Othello", "", "Mohammed II", "Lady of the Lake".
In 1822 Rossini spent four months in Vienna. Here his opera "Zelmira" was staged. Not everyone was delighted with her - for example, Carl Maria von Weber sharply criticized her - but on the whole Rossini was a success with the Viennese public. From Vienna, he briefly returns to Italy, where his opera "", which has become the last example of an opera seria, is staged, and then visits London and Paris. A warm welcome awaited him in both capitals, and in France, at the suggestion of the Minister of the Royal Court, he headed the Italian Theater. His first work, created in this capacity, was the opera "", dedicated to the coronation of Charles X.
In an effort to create an opera for the French public, Rossini carefully studies its tastes, as well as features French and theater. The result of the work is the successful performance of new editions of two works - "Mohammed II" (under the title "The Siege of Corinth") and "", as well as a work in the genre of French comic opera- Count Ory. In 1829, his new heroic opera "" was staged at the Grand Opera.
And now, after such a grandiose masterpiece, Rossini stops creating operas. In subsequent years, he wrote "", a cycle piano pieces"Sins of old age" - but for musical theater created nothing else.
Rossini spent twenty years - from 1836 to 1856 - in his native country, where he headed the Lyceum of Bologna, then returned to France, where he remained until his death in 1868.
Since 1980, the Rossini Opera Festival has been held annually in Pesaro.
Music Seasons
