Word: rossini
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...popular impression of Rossini as a composer of comic operas has not changed much since Beethoven. "Give us more Barbers," the mighty German is supposed to have advised the young Italian, and succeeding generations have endorsed Beethoven's opinion. The creator of Barber of Seville, La Cenerentola and L 'Italiana in Algeri is usually considered a deft musical comic whose work sparkles with wit and high spirits...
There is another side to Rossini, one that his contemporaries knew well but that is now being rediscovered. This is the serious Rossini, the composer of such dramas as Semiramide, Otello, Tancredi, Mosè, La Donna del Lago and Guillaume Tell. Several of these works have returned to the repertory in recent years; in the U.S., two of them were given new productions last week. Mosè and La Donna del Lago-produced, respectively, in Philadelphia and Houston-have not been seen in this country for more than a century...
...Rossini treats the story of Mosès and the Israelites in Egypt (with an improbable love interest between Mosès' niece and the Pharaoh's son) in a serious, restrained...
Whereas Mosè is a nearly static drama-Rossini at times referred to it as an oratorio-La Donna del Lago (The Lady of the Lake) is an atmospheric treatment of Sir Walter Scott's poem. It is a bucolic score, with harps and hunting horns highlighting the composer's landscape painting. Donna, full of infectious melodies, is closer in spirit to the great comedies...
...miscellany of letters from Napoleon, Copernicus, Erasmus, Rossini, Queen Christina of Sweden and Mary Queen of Scots. Not included is the legendary erotica collection widely rumored to be hidden somewhere in the Vatican Archives...