Travel tips for opera lovers – Rome and Gioachino Rossini

Rossini in Rome

The series about historical places of opera art & culture. Get to know exciting excursion and travel ideas for opera lovers. This time:  Rossini in Rome.

All Destinations on google maps with links to detailed Blogposts:

Rossini in Rome

Rossini was a theater director and composer in Naples when he received a commission for the Teatro Argentina. He accepted it and, at the age of 23, wrote within a few weeks one of the greatest and most groundbreaking operatic works. The premiere was a fiasco, but by the third performance Rossini was celebrated and the first performance of “Barbiere” at the Teatro Argentina became a myth.

A year later Rossini comes back to Rome with another commissioned work, this time to the Teatro della Valle. It is the “Cenerentola”, his most difficult opera to date. The tenor is nervous about the virtuoso arias with the high C’s, the baritone fears Rossini’s invention of the presto sillabato (the rapid speech singing) and the prima donna has to manage a firework of ornaments, tone chains and leaps in the final piece “Non più mesta” that is breathtaking. This piece is among the most demanding that has been written for a coloratura soprano. And the premiere? History repeats itself, the premiere is a failure, but soon the Romans are at Rossini’s feet.

TO THE FULL ROSSINI BIOGRAPHY

Destination Teatro Argentina

The Argentina had the honor of having been the stage for one of the most famous premieres in the history of opera, the tumult of the February 20 premiere of “Barbiere” became a legend. More about this in the digression below.

This theater is located on the site where once was the huge theater of Pompey, where Julius Caesar was killed in 44 BC. The Teatro Argentina was built in the 18th century and still stands in the splendor of the 19th century. It is in our times the site of musical and spoken theater and is part of the Teatri di Roma.

Teatro Argentina:

http://www.teatrodiroma.net/doc/3169/teatro-argentina

Destination Caffè Greco

This caffè dates back to 1760 and still retains its historic charm. It contains long corridors and rooms where hundreds of works of art hang. It was a famous artists’ café and the list of guests reads like a who’s who of 19th century artists from Goethe to Liszt. Among others, it was also frequented by Gioacchino Rossini. It is centrally located near the Spanish Steps, in case of a visit bring enough change.

Caffè Greco:

https://anticocaffegreco.eu/

Musical Background: the fiasco of the «Barbiere» in the Teatro Argentina

The premiere of the work was chaotic and failed. The fact that Paisiello’s previous work of “il barbiere dis siviglia” was very well known and respected and that the audience was overwhelmed by Rossini’s hurricane may have contributed to the failure. Possibly the performance was even sabotaged by Paisiello’s followers. The first performance of the «Barbiere» was tumultuous. One of the singers stumbled over a trap door and fell on his face. During the finale, a cat suddenly appeared on stage. After being chased out, it came back and jumped on a singer’s arms. The audience began to meow and spurred the animal on.

One of Rossini’s greatest inventions, which he used for the first time in “Italiana in Algeri” and in “Barbiere di Siviglia”, is the so-called Rossini crescendo. One of these scenes is Basilio’s aria “La calumnia è un venticello”. The text of the aria sounds like the definition of a Rossini crescendo. It begins with a breeze and gradually increases into a musical hurricane until it ends with the shot of a cannon.

La calumnia è und venticello:

https://opera-inside.com/il-barbiere-di-siviglia-by-gioacchino-rossini/#La