Category Archives: Rossini
Rossini After Opera
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 5th July 2023Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) was only 37 years old after the premiere of William Tell in 1829. He was the leading operatic composer in the world. Yet for reason still unresolved, he never wrote another opera during the four decades of life which remained to him. He was not mute during this period away from the…
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Rossini String Sonatas
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 15th July 2020Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) grew up in a musical and operatic family; his mother was a singer and his father a horn player. He is the only composer to write multiple masterpieces before reaching 25: Tancredi, L’italiana in Algeri, Il turco in Italia, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Otello, ossia Il moro di Venezia, and La Cenerentola….
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Viva Rossini!
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 9th July 2019During his active phase as an opera composer Gioachino Rossini (1792-1968) was the most popular composer of operas throughout the Western World. After his premature retirement from the stage at age 37, he was eclipsed in popularity first by Verdi and then by Puccini. For a while the only opera of his to be regularly…
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Colorado Springs Philharmonic Opens Season
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 16th September 2018The CSP opened its 2018-19 season this evening (Sept 15) under the direction of its music director Josep Caballé-Domenech. The Pikes Peak Center was full of an enthusiastic audience that had two out of three pieces to be enthusiastic about. The first was Rossini’s overture to L’Italiana in Algeri. The Philharmonic’s Catalan maestro lead a…
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Donner and Blitzen in Santa Fe Plus L’Italiana in Algeri
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 4th August 2018On Thursday August 4 there was a terrific thunderstorm over the Crosby Theater of the Santa Fe Opera. The show, appropriately Dr Atomic, continued even though the stage and surrounding area were drenched. The following afternoon an even more explosive storm hit the central area of Santa Fe causing a prolonged blackout. So we went…
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Semiramide in HD
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 10th March 2018Semiramide, Rossini’s last Italian opera before his move to Paris, was immensely popular in the 19th century; it all but vanished in the 20th. It’s the last classical Italian opera, a style that succumbed to French Grand Opera and to Italian romantic and more realistic opera. The opera has a plot that makes the Gordian…
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10th Anniversary
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 2nd December 2017Ten years ago today, I published the first post here. Almost 900 articles have followed. To mark the date, here are three videos presented for no other reason than that they are beautiful and on topic. It’s no accident that liberty is at the core of all three. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUAsgHN__8E
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William Tell: Act 4 Scene 1
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 22nd March 2017After an hiatus of 85 years, last fall the Met brought back Rossini’s William Tell in its original French version. Previous performances of the opera by the company were done in German! and Italian. One of the main reasons for Tell’s infrequent stagings is its demanding tenor role, Arnold. This part was first sung by…
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Sois Immobile
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 3rd November 2016Last night the Sirius Network broadcast William Tell from the Met. This run of the opera is the first time that it has been performed by the company in 85 years. The opera when done complete, as the Met is doing it, lasts about five hours including the two intervals. But the music is good…
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Finale 8 – Act 1 Barber of Seville
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 24th April 2016Nobody exceeded Rossini in the mirth, invention, and sheer zaniness of the finales to his comic operas. The end of act 1 of The Barber of Seville is matched only by the Master from Pesaro himself. The action (really the inaction) is the response of Bartolo and Basilio to the release of the Count (who is…
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