Rossini & Early 19th Century Italian Opera Giaocchino Rossini [1792-1868] : o meteoric career, wrote almost 40 operas

s in 20 years- grand opera, serious opera, comic operas [opera buffe] o For more than 50 years, musical forms of Italian opera followed the patterns imposed largely by Rossini; but his own music was Classical in a way that to some seemed inappropriate for the new subject matter o Five-part structure of Italian opera numbers [arias or ensembles] as essentially defined by Rossini [see NAWM, pp 594-595 1 scena [recitative] introducing text aria are set to metered rhymed poetry recitative is sent to prose text o people realize that things happen during this 2 tempo dattacco [transitional passage in unrhymed verse] 3 cantabile [slow, lyrical closed form] 4 tempo di mezzo [fast transitional passage in unrhymed verse, showing some kind of change in the drama] 5 cabaletta [faster, brilliant closed form, usually in a steady rhythm] o Rossini, Guillaume Tell [William Tell, 1829] Serious opera written in French for Paris Opera, brought together French grand opera with Italian lyricism Rossini had a refined & aristocratic sensibility that seemed to some inappropriate to the melodrama demanded by the new grand opera audiences Act 4, Scene 1 of Guillaume Tell: Arnolds aria Asile hereditaire.Amis, amis, secondez ma vengeance Scena: non mi lasciare, o speme di vendetta Cantabile: Asile hereditaire Tempo di mezzo: Vengeance! Quel espoir, jentends des cris dalarmes Cabaletta: Amis, amis secondez ma vengeance Rossini retired from composing after writing William Tell, & devoted himself to cooking & eating Il barbiere di Siviglia [the Barber of Seville, 1816]: the most famous & popular of all comic operas Rossini instrumental in developing style of bel canto: elegant style of beautiful song in early 19th century, characterized by lyricism, technical fluency, & florid delivery; voice as the paramount element Patter style from comic arias; rapidly delivered & clever lines, often with much repetition, sung with great speed & precision NAWM 137: Rosinas Una voce poco fa from Barber of Seville [act II, Scene 5] A double aria in two sections [rather that the standard five]: a lyrical cavatina & a faster, brilliant conclusion [the cabaletta] the cabaletta shows Rosina as both loving (bel canto element) and as trickster (rapid passagework)