Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)

Rossini: William Tell, Overture (finale)

Daniel Perez Castaneda and Orchestra

Rossini: Cambiale di Matrimonio, Overture

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham

Rossini: L'Inganno Felice ('Tacita notte amica...')

Annick Massis, soprano (Isabella)

Le Concert des Tuileries, conducted by Marc Minkowski

Rossini: La Mort di Didone

Mariella Devia, soprano (Didone)

Filarmonica della Scala, conducted by Riccardo Chailly

Rossini: La Pietra del Paragone ('Chi 耀 colei che s'avvicina')

Dariusz Machej, bass (Macrobio)

Czech Chamber Chorus and soloists, conducted by Alessandro de Marchi.

Donald Macleod focuses on the early operas of Rossini.

Rossini: Sinfonia in D, 'Al Conventello

Prague Philharmonic Choir & Prague Sinfonia Orchestra, conducted by Christian Benda

Rossini: Tancredi ('Oh patria...' & 'Di tanti palpiti...

Marilyn Horne, mezzo-soprano (Tancredi)

Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro la Fenice, conducted by Ralf Weikert

Rossini: L'Italiana in Algeri (Act 1, finale)

Lorenzo Regazzo, bass (Mustafa); Marianna Pizzolato, mezzo-soprano (Isabella); Ruth Gonzalez, soprano (Elvira); Elsa Giannoulidou, mezzo-soprano (Zulma); Lawrence Brownlee, tenor (Lindoro); Bruno de Simone, baritone (Taddeo)

Transylvania State Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Alberto Zedda

Rossini: Elizabetta Regina d'Inghilterra (Act 1, Sc 2)

Jennifer Larmore, mezzo-soprano (Elisabetta); Bruce Ford, tenor (Leicester); Antonino Siragusa, tenor (Norfolk); Majella Cullagh, soprano (Matilde)

London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Giuliano Carella

Rossini: The Barber of Seville, Overture

The King's Singers.

Donald Macleod on the operas that made Rossini's name.

The Barber of Seville ('Largo al Factotum')

Tito Gobbi, baritone (Figaro)

Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Alceo Galliera

Torvaldo e Dorliska (Act I, Sc 3)

Michele Bianchini, bass (Duca d'Ordow)

ARS Brunensis Chamber Choir & Czech Chamber Soloists, conducted by Alessandro de Marchi

The Barber of Seville, Overture

London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Claudio Abbado

The Barber of Seville ('Una voce poco fa...')

Maria Callas, soprano (Rosina)

Barber of Seville (Act 1, Finale)

Sonia Ganassi, soprano (Rosina); Ramon Vargas, tenor (Conte Almaviva); Roberto Servile, baritone (Figaro); Angelo Romero, baritone (Bartolo); Franco de Grandis, bass (Don Basilio); Ingrid Kertesi, soprano (Berta)

Hungarian Radio Chorus & Failoni Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Will Humburg

The Barber of Seville ('First the doctor wants to marry...')

Jennifer Rhys-Davies, soprano (Berta)

Chorus and Orchestra of the English National Opera, conducted by Gabriele Bellini

The Barber of Seville ('Di si felice innesto')

Maria Callas, soprano (Rosina); Luigi Alva, tenor (Conte Almaviva); Tito Gobbi, baritone (Figaro); Fritz Ollendorf, bass (Bartolo); Nicola Zaccaria, bass (Don Basilio); Gabriella Carturan, mezzo-soprano (Berta)

Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Alceo Galliera.

Donald Macleod explores the stories behind Rossini's The Barber of Seville.

Rossini: La Cenerentola ('Signore, una parole...')

Cecilia Bartoli, mezzo-soprano (Cenerentola)

Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro Communale di Bologna, conducted by Riccardo Chailly

Rossini: Maometto II ('Ah! Che invan su questo ciglio')

Cecilia Bartoli, mezzo-soprano (Anna)

Orchestra of Teatro la Fenice, conducted by Ion Marin

Rossini: Semiramide, Overture

Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna, conducted by Alberto Zedda

Rossini: Le Comte Ory ('En proie a la tristesse')

Sumi Jo, soprano (Adele)

Orchestra and Choir of L'Opera de Lyon, conducted by John-Eliot Gardiner

Rossini: William Tell, Ballet music

The Hall退 Orchestra, conducted by Sir John Barbirolli.

Rossini: William Tell ('O muto asil del pianto...')

Chris Merritt, tenor (Arnoldo)

Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala, conducted by Riccardo Muti

Rossini: Robert Bruce, Overture

Orchestra Sinfonica e Coro di Milano, conducted by Riccardo Chailly

Rossini: La Regata Veneziana

Stella Doufexis, mezzo-soprano; Roger Vignoles, piano

Rossini: Giovanna d'Arco

Cecilia Bartoli, mezzo-soprano; Charles Spencer, piano

Rossini: Petite Messe Solennelle (O salutaris hostia & Agnus Dei)

Daniela Dessi, soprano; Gloria Scalchi, mezzo-soprano

Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Communale di Bologna, conducted by Riccardo Chailly.

Donald Macleod focuses on the years after Rossini turned his back on opera.

Rossini had the good fortune to learn his craft not from a course of dry academic study but by toiling in the operatic trenches of Venice's Teatro San Mois耀, for which he produced a youthful string of one-act farces - four of which are sampled in today's programme. Thrown in at the deep end at the tender age of 18, Rossini almost immediately - and apparently instinctively - caught on to the essentials of writing music for the stage. More than that, he seems to have codified his instincts into a structural ground plan that not only underpins his early farces, but continued to serve him when he graduated to writing comic operas on a larger scale - a case in point being the deftly-paced 1st-act finale of Cinderella, which concludes today's programme.

La cambiale di matrimonio; overture

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

La scala di seta; scene 1, Introduzione

Teresa Ringholz, soprano (Giulia)

Alessandro Corbelli, baritone (Germano)

Francesca Provvisionato, mezzo soprano (Lucilla)

English Chamber Orchestra

Marcello Viotti, conductor

L'inganno felice; scene 8 (extract): Terzetto: ‘Quel sembiante

Raúl Gim退nez, tenor (Bertrando)

Pietro Spagnoli, bass (Tarabotto)

Annick Massis, soprano (Isabella)

Le Concert des Tuileries

Marc Minkowski, conductor

L'occasione fa il ladro (or Il cambio della valigia); scenes 12 (extract)-13:

- Duet: ‘Voi la sposa!

- Recit: ‘Qui non c'耀 scampo

- Aria: ‘Il mio padrone

Enrico Fissore, bass (Don Parmenione)

Margherita Rinaldi, soprano (Berenice)

Antonio Pirino, tenor (Don Eusebio)

Gianni Socci, baritone (Martino)

Italian Radio Symphony Orchestra Turin

Vittorio Gui, conductor

La Cenerentola; Act 1, finale

Luigi Alva, tenor (Ramiro)

Renato Capecchi, baritone (Dandini)

Margherita Guglielmi, soprano (Clorinda)

Laura Zannini, soprano (Tisbe)

Ugo Trama, bass (Alidoro)

Teresa Berganza, mezzo soprano (Cenerentola)

Paolo Montarsolo, bass (Don Magnifico)

Scottish Opera Chorus

London Symphony Orchestra

Claudio Abbado, conductor

Produced by Chris Barstow for BBC Wales

Donald Macleod looks at the winning formula of Rossini's early operas.

With the exception of William Tell, from which most people know only the overture, Rossini is generally regarded first and foremost as a composer of comic operas - the most familiar of these being The Barber of Seville. With a couple of notable exceptions, his serious operas remain relatively virgin territory, yet as Rossini expert Richards Osborne points out, it's on the sequence of nine opere serie Rossini wrote for Naples between 1815 and 1822 that his reputation as the founding father of Italian 19th-century opera principally rests. Today's programme explores three of these operas: Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra, with which Rossini made his dazzling Neapolitan d退but; Zelmira, with which he said farewell Naples and hello Vienna; and Ermione, which ran for only seven performances before being indefinitely mothballed. `Ermione is my little William Tell,` said Rossini, `and it will not see the light of day until after my death.` He was right; a century-and-a-half after its disastrous opening run it was triumphantly revived, and many now regard it as his tragic masterpiece.

Il barbiere di Siviglia; Act 1 Scene 1, ‘Largo al factotum

Sesto Bruscantini, baritone (Figaro)

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Vittorio Gui, conductor

Zelmira; Act 1 Scene 5 (extract):

- ‘S'intessano agli allori

- ‘Terra amica

Juan Diego Fl　rez, tenor (Ilio)

Orchestra Sinfonica e Coro di Milano Giuseppe Verdi

Riccardo Chailly, conductor

Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra; Act 2 Scene 1 (extract)

- ‘Dov'耀 Matilde?

- ‘Pensa che sol per poco

- ‘Non bastan quelle lagrime

- ‘Misero me!...la sposa

- ‘L'avverso nio destino

- ‘Ah! Fra Poco, in Faccia A Morte

Montserrat Caball退, (Elisabetta)

Neil Jenkins, (Guglielmo)

Valerie Masterson, (Matilde)

London Symphony Orchestra

Gianfranco Masini, conductor

Ermione; Act 1 Scene 6 (finale)

Colin Lee, tenor (Oreste)

Carmen Giannattasio, soprano (Ermione)

Paul Nilon, tenor (Pirro)

Rebecca Bottone, soprano (Cleone)

Patricia Bardon, mezzo soprano (Andromaca)

Victoria Simmonds, alto (Cefisa)

Bülent Bezdüz, tenor (Pilade)

Loc F退lix, tenor (Attalo)

Graeme Broadbent, baritone (Fenicio)

Geoffrey Mitchell Choir

London Philharmonic Orchestra

David Parry, conductor

Produced by Chris Barstow for BBC Wales

Donald Macleod takes a look at Rossini's serious side

`Light, lively, amusing, never wearisome but seldom exalted - Rossini would appear to have been brought into this world for the express purpose of conjuring up visions of ecstatic delight in the commonplace soul of the Average Man.` - a typically ambivalent pronouncement by the composer's earliest biographer. Baptised Marie-Henri Beyle, Stendahl is best known today as a writer of fiction, and there's a substantial fictive element about his biography of the world's greatest living Italian composer, written when his subject, already an international celebrity, was less than halfway through his life. Nonetheless, Stendahl provides an eyewitness account of Rossini's life in its busiest and most productive period, and while he can be an infuriatingly unreliable guide, he's also a delightful and, ultimately, indispensible one.

Tancredi; Act 1 Scene 5, ‘Di tanti palpiti

Marilyn Horne, mezzo soprano (Tancredi)

Teatro La Fenice Orchestra

Ralf Weikert, conductor

La pietra del paragon; Act 2, extract:

- ‘A caccia o mio Signore' (chorus)

- ‘Oh come il fosco impetuoso nembo' / ‘Quell'alme pupille' (Giocondo))

Jos退 Carerras, tenor (Giocondo)

The Clarion Concerts Orchestra and Chorus

Newell Jenkins, conductor

L'Italiana in Algeri; Act 1 Scene 4 (finale)

Teresa Berganza, mezzo soprano (Isabella)

Fernando Corena, bass (Mustaf

According to Rossini's biographer Richard Osborne, the composer left a `large and absorbingly diverse collection of non-operatic compositions` - some written during his career, many more after his early retirement from the stage in 1831. They range from a short occasional fanfare for four horns and orchestra written as a musical thank-you for a well-to-do host who was crazy about hunting, to the masterpiece of Rossini's late years, the Petite messe solennelle, which the composer prefaced with a tongue-in-cheek letter to God: `Good God, there we have it, complete, this poor little Mass. Is it really sacred music that I've made, or is it merely abominable music? I was born for opera buffa, as Thou well knowest. Little skill, a little heart, and that is all. So be Thou blessed, and admit me to Paradise. G. Rossini. Passy, 1863.`

String Sonata No 1 in G; 3rd mvt, Allegro

Ensemble de I Virtuosi Italiani

Messa di Gloria; Kyrie eleison—Christe eleison—Kyrie eleison

Francisco Araiza, tenor

Raúl Gimenez, tenor

Academy and Chorus of St Martin-in-the-Fields

Neville Marriner, conductor

La pastorella

Belt

Rumours that Rossini was planning to leave Italy for Paris started doing the rounds in 1818, after his comic opera L'Italiana in Algeri created a sensation at the Th退 tre Italien there; but it wasn't until the end of 1824 that he finally signed on the dotted line and relocated to the French capital. Rossini's contract with the French government required him to write operas for both the Th退 tre Italien and the Op退ra, which had been struggling commercially. His two major contributions to the Op退ra were Count Ory and William Tell, comic and ‘serious' operas respectively: the former, a glorious musical salvage operation from an operatic entertainment originally devised for the coronation of Charles X, Il viaggio a Reims; the latter, a sprawling six-hour epic that set the template for French Grand Opera and perhaps, down the line, the music dramas of Wagner. In 1836, Rossini left Paris for Bologna, where he spent nearly 20 years in a downward spiral of ill-health and depression whose root cause was the venereal disease he had in all probability contracted in his 20s. In 1855, he and his former mistress, now wife and carer, Olympe P退lissier, returned to Paris, so that Rossini could benefit from the attentions of an expert urologist. The Rossinis settled in Passy, where they established weekly musical gatherings - Samedi soirs - and Rossini started to compose again. His P退ch退s de vieillesse - Sins of Old Age - run to 14 volumes; a Rossinian byway well worth exploring.

In today's programme, we meet Rossini's mother and father, a self-taught soprano and a horn-player who was in and out of prison throughout the composer's youth. Both of them uniquely inspired Rossini, and we can hear their influence in the music he began writing at just 12 years old.

Il barbiere di Siviglia

Act I: Cavatina: Largo al factotum della citta

Peter Mattei, baritone (Figaro)

Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra

Lawrence Renes, conductor

La cambiale di matrimonio:

Sinfonia; Scene 14: Finale: Portero cosi il cappello; Scene 15: Qual ira, oh ciel, v'accende; Final Scene: Vi prego

Vito Priante, bass (Tobia Mill)

Julija Samsonova, soprano (Fanny)

Daniele Zanfardino, tenor (Edoardo Milfort)

Giulio Mastrototaro, bass (Slook)

Tomasz Wija, bass (Norton)

Francesca Russo Ermolli, mezzo-soprano (Clarina)

Massimiliano Tanzini, harpsichord

Wurttemberg Philharmonic Orchestra

Christopher Franklin, conductor

Sonata a quattro No. 2 in A Major

Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna

Riccardo Chailly, conductor

Sinfonia in D - 'al Conventello`

Il Signor Bruschino

Sinfonia; N.3 Cavatina: 'Nel teatro del gran mondo`

Samuel Ramey, bass (Gaudenzio)

English Chamber Orchestra

Ion Marin, conductor

At the peak of his fame, Rossini suddenly disappears. What led him to this moment?

Gioachino Rossini, born in Italy in 1792, began writing music at the age of 12. His first opera was performed when he was 18, and he wrote 37 more in the span of 20 years. Then, at the peak of his fame, the composer suddenly disappeared from the public eye. What led him to this moment? This week, Donald Macleod traces Rossini's career, from his humble beginnings as the son of a horn player, learning to write music in order to support his family, to travelling the world and rubbing shoulders with royalty. We'll hear the truth behind his mysterious retirement and discover what made him return to composing, at the very end of his life.

In today's programme, we hear how Rossini escaped to Naples, met a Spanish soprano who would become his muse and wrote the opera which put him on the map: Il barbiere di Siviglia.

Tancredi

Oh patria!... Tu che accendi questo core... Di tanti palpiti`

Marie-Nicole Lemieux, contralto (Tancredi)

Orchestre national de Montpellier Occitanie

Enrique Mazzola, conductor

Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra

Overture; 'Misera! A quale stato`

Montserrat Caball退, soprano (Elisabetta)

Ugo Benelli, tenor (Norfolk)

Neil Jenkins, tenor (Guglielmo)

London Symphony Orchestra

Gianfranco Masini, conductor

Overture; 'Una voce poco fa`

Maria Callas (Rosina)

Philharmonia Orchestra & Chorus

Alceo Galliera, conductor

Otello

Act III: Danzone del gondiero: Nessun maggior dolore; Act III: Canzone del Salice: Assisa a pie d'un salice

Leonardo Cortellazzi, tenor (Un gondoliere)

Jessica Pratt, soprano (Desdemona)

Geraldine Chauvet, mezzo-soprano (Emilia)

Virtuosi Brunensis & Transylvania State Philharmonic Choir

Antonino Fogliani, conductor

Rossini meets his muse and makes his name. Presented by Donald Macleod.

Gioachino Rossini, born in Italy in 1792, began writing music at the age of 12. His first opera was performed when he was 18 and he wrote 37 more in the span of 20 years. Then, at the peak of his fame, the composer suddenly disappeared from the public eye. What led him to this moment? This week, Donald Macleod traces Rossini's career, from his humble beginnings as the son of a horn player, learning to write music in order to support his family, to travelling the world and rubbing shoulders with royalty. We'll hear the truth behind his mysterious retirement and discover what made him return to composing, at the very end of his life.

In today's programme, Rossini finds the city that had been the source of his creative energy now seems to be turning on him. Donald follows the composer on his escape from Naples, to Vienna, Paris and London.

Mos耀 in Egitto

No. 24 Recitativo: 'Eccone in salvo, o figli`

Ruggero Raimondi, bass (Mos耀)

Ambrosian Opera Chorus & Philharmonia Orchestra

Claudio Scimone, conductor

No. 25 Preghiera: 'Dal tuo stellato soglio`; 'Ma qual fragor!`; 'Son fuggiti! Oh ciel, che miro!`

Ermione

Overture

Ambrosian Singers

Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Sir Neville Marriner, conductor

Semiramide

'Serena e vaghi rai'; 'Bel raggio lusinghier'; 'Dolce pensiero'; 'Mitrane! E che rechi?'; `Serbami ognor`; 'Alle più calde immagini'

Joan Sutherland, soprano (Semiramide)

Marilyn Horne, mezzo-soprano (Arsace)

London Symphony Orchestra

Richard Bonynge, conductor

Le si耀ge de Corinthe

Camerata Bach Choir

Pozna? & Virtuosi Brunensis

Jean-Luc Tingaud, conductor

Rossini fever sweeps Europe. Presented by Donald Macleod.

Gioachino Rossini, born in Italy in 1792, began writing music at the age of 12. His first opera was performed when he was 18, and he wrote 37 more in the span of 20 years. Then, at the peak of his fame, the composer suddenly disappeared from the public eye. What led him to this moment? This week, Donald Macleod traces Rossini's career, from his humble beginnings as the son of a horn player, learning to write music in order to support his family, to travelling the world and rubbing shoulders with royalty. We'll hear the truth behind his mysterious retirement and discover what made him return to composing, at the very end of his life.

In today's programme, Donald discovers what drove Rossini to suddenly put down his composer's quill, and we meet the woman who may as well have saved his life...

Guillaume Tell

Overture

New York Philharmonic

Leonard Bernstein, conductor

Soir退es Musicales

I. La promessa; II. Il rimprovero; VI. La pastorella dell'Alpi

Miah Persson, soprano

Stella Doufexis, soprano

Bruce Ford, tenor

Roger Vignoles, piano

X. La pesca; IX. La regata veneziana

Stabat Mater

1. Stabat Mater dolorosa; 10. Amen

Katia Ricciarelli, soprano

Dalmacio Gonzales, tenor

Ruggero Raimondi, bass

Lucia Valentini Terrani, soprano

Philharmonia Orchestra

Philharmonia Chorus

Carlo Maria Giulini, conductor

At the height of his fame, Rossini suddenly retires. Donald Macleod asks why?

Gioachino Rossini, born in Italy in 1792, began writing music at the age of 12. His first opera was performed when he was 18, and he wrote 37 more in the span of 20 years. Then, at the peak of his fame, the composer suddenly disappeared from the public eye. What led him to this moment? This week, Donald Macleod traces Rossini's career, from his humble beginnings as the son of a horn player, learning to write music in order to support his family, to travelling the world and rubbing shoulders with royalty. We'll hear the truth behind his mysterious retirement and discover what made him return to composing, at the very end of his life.

When most composers retire, they retire for good, disappearing off the face of the earth to enjoy their earnings in peace. But in the final years of his life, something spurred Rossini to return. In today's programme, Donald finds Rossini back in Paris, re-inspired.

Musique anodine

Prelude; N.I

Suze van Grootel, soprano

Silvia Tro Santaf退, mezzo-soprano

Jorge Perdig　n, tenor

Ram　n de Andr退s, baritone

Julian Reynolds, piano

N. II; N. III; N. IIII; N. IIIII; N. IIIIII

P退ch退s de vieillesse

IX. Album pour piano, violon, violoncello, harmonium et cor

Bruno Taddia, baritone

Lilly Jørstad, mezzo-soprano

Massimo Quarta, violin

Alessandro Marangoni, piano, harmonium

Enrico Dindo, cello

Marco Berrini, bells

Ugo Favaro, horn

Ars Cantica Choir

Petite messe solennelle

I. Kyrie; XVIII. Agnus Dei

Krassimira Stoyanova, soprano

Birgit Remmert, alto

Steve Davislim, tenor

Hanno Müller-Brachmann, bass

RIAS Kammerchor

Marcus Creed, conductor

Rossini returns from retirement. Presented by Donald Macleod.