Gioachino Rossini

In the operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini, bel canto Romanticism finds its ultimate expression. Gioacchino Rossini was born in Pesaro and was launched on his meteoric career with La cambiale di matrimonio, first heard in Venice in 1810, when its composer was only 18. It was a career that was to take him all over Europe, but that ended in 1829 when the then 37-year-old composer laid down his pen and, for the next 40 years, wrote virtually nothing more. Passing from Venice to Bologna and from there to Milan and Naples, he produced within a short space of time some of the most popular works in the whole of the operatic repertoire, and although not all were immediately successful, their composer had become a national hero by the age of 23. Not all his works are lightweight opere buffe such as L'italiana in Algeri, Il barbiere di Siviglia and La Cenerentola on which his reputation hung for far too long. They also include more serious operas such as La donna del lago and Semiramide. All, however, were written for the most virtuosic and imaginative singers of their day. Their verve and wit dazzled audiences all over Europe, who soon came to expect their composer's infectious crescendos. He moved to Paris in 1824 and was appointed Director fo the Théâtre-Italien by Charles X. Here more new works were staged, culminating in William Tell in 1829. Having written almost 40 operas in the space of 20 years, the exhausted composer turned his back on the theatre and lived out the rest of his days in universal respect.