1792-1868
“Give me a laundry-list and I’ll set it to music.“
– Rossini
Gioachino Antonio Rossini was born in Pesaro (now part of Italy, then part of the Papal States) on February 29,1792. His mother was a singer of theatrical roles, and his father was a horn player in military bands. In 1799 his father was imprisoned for having been sympathetic to Napoleon’s troops when they invaded Northern Italy. During this time, his mother took the young Rossini to Bologna; they were rejoined by
Rossini’s father in June of 1800.
By the time he enrolled in the Conservatory of Bologna at the age of 14, Rossini had learned to play the piano, to sing, and to play the horn, and had already demonstrated his knack for speedy composition. He had composed Six Sonatas for strings in just three days at the age of 12. These sonatas demonstrate his skill at writing clear, songlike melodies. A year later he wrote his first opera, Demetrio e Polibio (though it would not be performed until he was a young man). At the Conservatory he learned to play the cello and was taught counterpoint by Padre Stanislao Mattei (who also taught Donizetti ). While there he also studied the string quartets of Haydn and Mozart. He was so fond of Mozart, in fact, that he was nicknamed “il Tedeschino” meaning “the little German.”
Rossini left the Conservatory after winning the prize in 1808 for his cantata The Cry of Harmony on the Death of Orpheus, and his opera career was launched with the successful production in Venice of his first comic opera, The Marriage Contract, in 1810. Even this early on, his operas were noteworthy for their animated ensembles, fl orid melodies, and driving rhythmic ostinatos, which would become the hallmarks of the bel canto style. Between 1810 and 1813, his operas were produced in Bologna, Venice, Rome, and Milan; the extremely successful Tancredi and L’italiana in Algieri thrust him into the interntional spotlight, and by the age of 21 Rossini had become the most celebrated name in Italian opera.
In 1816, Rossini wrote his best-known opera: The Barber of Seville. Using a new libretto written by Cesare Sterbini, Rossini set to work composing. He was familiar with an already-popular opera with the same title, written by Giovanni Paisiello. Rossini contacted the older composer, assuring him that the new opera would bear the title of Almaviva, or The Futile Precaution, to avoid eclipsing the previous works’ success. Paisiello’s supporters were livid, and caused disruptions at the ill-fated premiere on February 20, 1816. The opening night of the opera, which had taken Rossini all of 13 days to complete, was a complete disaster. As if the booing and hissing of hecklers weren’t bad enough, a member of the cast suffered a fall and had to sing with a bloodied nose, and at one pointin the evening a stray cat wandered onto the stage and meowed at the performers.
Embarrassed, Rossini fled the production and locked himself in his quarters. On the night of its second performance, a crowd gathered around Rossini’s home, and the composer feared for his safety, refusing even to come out when he heard the crowd fanatically cheering his name.
In 1822 Rossini married his first wife, the Spanish opera singer Isabella Colbran. The two moved to Vienna for a brief time, where Rossini met Ludwig van Beethoven (then in failing health), whose words stuck with the younger composer:
“Ah! Rossini, you are the author of The Barber of Seville? I offer my compliments; it is an
excellent opera buffa. I have read it with pleasure and I enjoyed myself. So long as there is an
Italian opera, it will be performed. Never try to do anything other than comic operas; to want
to succeed in another style would force your nature.”-Beethoven
Rossini left Vienna for England in 1823 by way of Paris, where he was jubilantly received. After a five month residency at the King’s Theatre in London, he returned to Paris and was contracted by Charles X of France to write five operas in French per year – a contract which made him a considerably wealthy man, and guaranteed him a substantial pension. In 1829, Rossini wrote his final opera, William Tell. At the age of 37, with 39 operas to his name, Rossini retired, leaving Paris to return to Italy, and turned his attention towards his other passions: cooking and enjoying fine foods.
Rossini’s abrupt retirement is the cause of much speculation. Accounts of his life and his letters show that he was prone to manic and depressive periods, suggesting he may have struggled with what we now call bipolar disorder. He was deeply saddened by the passing of his mother in 1827, and he struggled with his own worsening health in his later years. He and Isabella separated in the 1830s; after her death in 1845, Rossini married Olympe Pélessier, who had been managing the retired composer’s business affairs.
In 1855, Rossini returned to Paris, and began hosting gourmet dinners and musical gatherings that attracted renowned artists such as Franz Liszt, Camille Saint-Säens, and Guiseppe Verdi. He even began to compose again – songs, and small works for chamber ensembles, which he whimsically titled “Sins of Old Age.” He died of pneumonia in 1868 in his home in Passy, France. Following his death, Olympe remained at the villa in Passy the rest of her life, and saw the bequeathal of Rossini’s fortune to the founding of a free Academy of Music in his native town of Pesaro which is still active today. Her remaining wealth she bequeathed to charities for the support of French and Italian vocalists.
Rossini was buried in Paris, France, but his remains were transported for interment at the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, at the request of the Italian government in 1887.
