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Gioacchino Rossini

Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards for both comic and serious opera before retiring from large-scale composition while still in his thirties, at the height of his popularity.

Born in Pesaro to parents who were both musicians (his father a trumpeter, his mother a singer), Rossini began to compose by the age of 12 and was educated at music school in Bologna. His first opera was performed in Venice in 1810 when he was 18 years old. In 1815 he was engaged to write operas and manage theatres in Naples. In the period 1810–1823 he wrote 34 operas for the Italian stage that were performed in Venice, Milan, Ferrara, Naples and elsewhere; this productivity necessitated an almost formulaic approach for some components (such as overtures) and a certain amount of self-borrowing. During this period he produced his most popular works, including the comic operas L'italiana in Algeri, Il barbiere di Siviglia (known in English as The Barber of Seville) and La Cenerentola, which brought to a peak the opera buffa tradition he inherited from masters such as Domenico Cimarosa and Giovanni Paisiello. He also composed opera seria works such as Tancredi, Otello and Semiramide. All of these attracted admiration for their innovation in melody, harmonic and instrumental colour, and dramatic form. In 1824 he was contracted by the Opéra in Paris, for which he produced an opera to celebrate the coronation of Charles X, Il viaggio a Reims (later cannibalised for his first opera in French, Le comte Ory), revisions of two of his Italian operas, Le siège de Corinthe and Moïse, and in 1829 his last opera, Guillaume Tell.

Rossini's withdrawal from opera for the last 40 years of his life has never been fully explained; contributary factors may have been ill-health, the wealth his success had brought him, and the rise of spectacular grand opera under composers such as Giacomo Meyerbeer. From the early 1830s to 1855, when he left Paris and was based in Bologna, Rossini wrote relatively little. On his return to Paris in 1855 he became renowned for his musical salons on Saturdays, regularly attended by musicians and the artistic and fashionable circles of Paris, for which he wrote the entertaining pieces Péchés de vieillesse. Guests included Franz Liszt, Anton Rubinstein, Giuseppe Verdi, Meyerbeer and Joseph Joachim. Rossini's last major composition was his Petite messe solennelle (1863). He died in Paris in 1868.

Birth and Death Data: Born February 29, 1792 (Pesaro), Died November 13, 1868 (Passy)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1897 - 1951

Roles Represented in DAHR: composer

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 1-25 of 593 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Berliner 7 7-in. August 1897 William Tell : Overture Artists vary Band composer  
Berliner 1115 7-in. 6/6/1898 Largo al factotum Alberto Del Campo Baritone vocal solo composer  
Berliner 0222 7-in. June 1899 Overture : Finale Sousa's Band Band composer  
Berliner 0612 7-in. 10/18/1899 William Tell overture Vess L. Ossman Banjo solo composer  
Berliner 0826 7-in. 12/16/1899 Pastorale Frank Badollet ; Jean Moeremans Flute and saxophone duet composer  
Berliner 0926 7-in. Before June 1900 Inflammatus Herbert L. Clarke Cornet solo composer  
Berliner 01067 7-in. Mar. 1900 Semiramide overture Royal Italian Band Band composer  
Berliner 01089 7-in. Mar. 1900 Overture, finale Royal Italian Band Band composer  
Victor [Pre-matrix A-]138 7-in. 7/14/1900 Semiramide overture Voss First Regiment Band Band composer  
Victor [Pre-matrix A-]321 7-in. 10/5/1900 Finale to Overture Sousa's Band Band composer  
Victor [Pre-matrix B-]321 10-in. 1/4/1902 Finale to Overture Sousa's Band Band composer  
Victor [Pre-matrix C-]321 12-in. 6/19/1902 Finale to Overture Sousa's Band Band composer  
Victor [Pre-matrix A-]359 7-in. 10/4/1900 Semiramide : Overture Sousa's Band Band composer  
Victor [Pre-matrix B-]359 10-in. 1/6/1902 Semiramide : Overture Sousa's Band Band composer  
Victor [Pre-matrix A-]456 7-in. 10/26/1900 Pastorale Frank Badollet ; Jean Moeremans Flute and saxophone duet composer  
Victor [Pre-matrix A-]481 7-in. 10/30/1900 Una voce poco fa Rosalia Chalia Soprano vocal solo, with piano composer  
Victor [Pre-matrix A-]497 7-in. 11/9/1900 Inflammatus Herbert L. Clarke Cornet solo composer  
Victor [Pre-matrix A-]554 7-in. 12/4/1900 Quis est homo Rosalia Chalia ; Jane Frankel Vocal duet (soprano and contralto) composer  
Victor [Pre-matrix A-]1293 7-in. 2/27/1902 Overture—Finale Vess L. Ossman Banjo solo, with piano composer  
Victor [Pre-matrix B-]1293 10-in. 2/27/1902 Overture—Finale Vess L. Ossman Banjo solo, with piano composer  
Victor [Pre-matrix A-]1442 7-in. 6/21/1902 William Tell : Ballet music Sousa's Band Band composer  
Victor [Pre-matrix B-]1442 10-in. 6/21/1902 William Tell : Ballet music Sousa's Band Band composer  
Victor [Pre-matrix A-]1752 7-in. 11/13/1902 Barber of Seville selection Clarke's Band of Providence Band composer  
Victor [Pre-matrix B-]1752 10-in. 11/13/1902 Barber of Seville selection Clarke's Band of Providence Band composer  
Victor [Pre-matrix C-]1752 12-in. 7/29/1903 Barber of Seville selection Clarke's Band of Providence Band composer  
(Results 1-25 of 593 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Rossini, Gioacchino," accessed March 18, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102419.

Rossini, Gioacchino. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved March 18, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102419.

"Rossini, Gioacchino." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 18 March 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102419

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