Episodes
Series | Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
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2014 | 01 | The Freshness Of The Morning Of Life | 20140217 | 20170123 (R3) | It's difficult to imagine now that for an entire century, until halfway through the last one, Gioachino Rossini's operas virtually disappeared from the world's stages. In his own time, he was hugely popular and prolific; he was without doubt the most successful composer of the early 19th century, who gave the public what they wanted and made a fortune. Donald Macleod tells the story of Rossini's first compositions for the stage, works that Rossini's biographer Stendhal believed 'breathed with the freshness of the morning of life. 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. |
2014 | 02 | Genius In All Its Naivete | 20140218 | 20170124 (R3) | Rossini was never coy about re-using his own material. He was a practical man of the theatre, and where he thought an audience wouldn't have heard something before, he had no sense of shame about bringing it into play in a different context. This self-plagiarism was partly due to the sheer number of commissions he took on and the speed with which he turned them around. He once remarked: 'The time and money allowed me for composing were so small that I scarcely had time to read the libretti I had to set.' In this programme Donald Macleod focuses on the operas that first made Rossini world famous, including Tancredi and Elizabetta Regina d'Inghilterra. 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. |
2014 | 03 | Remember, Write Many More Like Barber | 20140219 | 20170125 (R3) | Written in haste and greeted with a disastrous opening night, Rossini's The Barber of Seville nevertheless went on to huge success and has remained prominent and popular in the repertoires of opera houses around the world. For large numbers of music lovers it stands as Rossini's finest work: his masterpiece. In today's programme Donald Macleod explores the stories behind Rossini's famous Barber. 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. |
2014 | 04 | The Great Renunciation | 20140220 | 20170126 (R3) | One of the legends which grew up about Rossini was the amazing speed with which he could complete an entire opera - two weeks in one case, eleven days in another. Overtures were habitually produced at the last minute, testing the nerves of theatre impresarios as the first night loomed. According to legend, one Neapolitan impresario resorted to desperate measures, locking Rossini up in an attic with a plate of macaroni, with four burly stagehands standing guard and ready to run with the music, as it emerged, sheet by sheet, to the copyists. Donald Macleod focuses on Rossini's later operas, including William Tell, his final opera before his 'great renunciation'. 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. Donald Macleod focuses on Rossini's later operas. |
2014 | 05 LAST | The Sins Of Old Age | 20140221 | 20170127 (R3) | In 1829, after an extraordinarily prolific and successful career, Rossini turned his back on the world of opera, for good. He was still only 37, but we can hardly grudge him his early retirement: he'd completed 39 operas in 20 years. Many attempts were made to try to lure the great man back to the operatic stage, but he never became actively involved in any of the projects dangled before him. His musical energies would become centred on his famous Saturday soirees at his apartment after he'd settled permanently in Paris in 1857. Donald Macleod focuses on these years of retirement, including Rossini's final masterpiece, the Petite Messe Solennelle. 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. |
2018 | 01 | The Rossini Code | 20181112 | This week, Donald Macleod presents five takes on the life and music of Gioachino Rossini. Today, the winning formula Rossini hit on right at the start of his operatic career. 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. | |
2018 | 01 | The Rossini Code | 20181112 | 20200413 (R3) | This week, Donald Macleod presents five takes on the life and music of Gioachino Rossini. Today, the winning formula Rossini hit on right at the start of his operatic career. 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. |
2018 | 02 | Stick To Comedy! | 20181113 | This week, Donald Macleod presents five takes on the life and music of Gioachino Rossini. Today, Rossini's serious side. 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) Loc 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 | |
2018 | 02 | Stick To Comedy! | 20181113 | 20200414 (R3) | This week, Donald Macleod presents five takes on the life and music of Gioachino Rossini. Today, Rossini's serious side. 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) Loc 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 |
2018 | 03 | The New Conqueror | 20181114 | This week, Donald Macleod presents five takes on the life and music of Gioachino Rossini. Today, Rossini seen through the enthusiastic but distorting lens of the writer Stendahl. `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 | |
2018 | 04 | Noises Off | 20181115 | This week, Donald Macleod presents five takes on the life and music of Gioachino Rossini. Today, the music that Rossini didn't have to write. 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 eleisonChriste eleisonKyrie eleison Francisco Araiza, tenor Raúl Gimenez, tenor Academy and Chorus of St Martin-in-the-Fields Neville Marriner, conductor La pastorella Belt | |
2018 | 05 LAST | An Italian In Paris | 20181116 | This week, Donald Macleod presents five takes on the life and music of Gioachino Rossini. Today, the composer's on-off relationship with the city of Paris. 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. | |
2023 | 01 | Son Of A Horn | 20230605 | 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 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? | |
2023 | 02 | Everything Is Amazing | 20230606 | Rossini meets his muse and makes his name. 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. | |
2023 | 03 | Lots Of Barbers | 20230607 | Rossini fever sweeps Europe. 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. | |
2023 | 04 | Indifferent To Judgement | 20230608 | At the height of his fame, Rossini showed no sign of slowing down - until he did. Why did the prolific composer suddenly retire? 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? | |
2023 | 05 LAST | Sins Of Old Age | 20230609 | Rossini returns from retirement. 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. |