大象传媒

Gioachino Rossini, born in Italy in 1792, began writing music at the age of 12. His first opera was performed when he was 18, and he wrote 37 more in the span of 20 years. Then, at the peak of his fame, the composer suddenly disappeared from the public eye. What led him to this moment? This week, Donald Macleod traces Rossini's career, from his humble beginnings as the son of a horn player, learning to write music in order to support his family, to travelling the world and rubbing shoulders with royalty. We'll hear the truth behind his mysterious retirement and discover what made him return to composing, at the very end of his life.

In today's programme, we meet Rossini's mother and father, a self-taught soprano and a horn-player who was in and out of prison throughout the composer's youth. Both of them uniquely inspired Rossini, and we can hear their influence in the music he began writing at just 12 years old.

Il barbiere di Siviglia
Act I: Cavatina: Largo al factotum della citta
Peter Mattei, baritone (Figaro)
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
Lawrence Renes, conductor

La cambiale di matrimonio:
Sinfonia; Scene 14: Finale: Portero cosi il cappello; Scene 15: Qual ira, oh ciel, v鈥檃ccende; Final Scene: Vi prego
Vito Priante, bass (Tobia Mill)
Julija Samsonova, soprano (Fanny)
Daniele Zanfardino, tenor (Edoardo Milfort)
Giulio Mastrototaro, bass (Slook)
Tomasz Wija, bass (Norton)
Francesca Russo Ermolli, mezzo-soprano (Clarina)
Massimiliano Tanzini, harpsichord
Wurttemberg Philharmonic Orchestra
Christopher Franklin, conductor

Sonata a quattro No. 2 in A Major
Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna
Riccardo Chailly, conductor

Sinfonia in D - "al Conventello鈥�
Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna
Riccardo Chailly, conductor

Il Signor Bruschino
Sinfonia; N.3 Cavatina: "Nel teatro del gran mondo鈥�
Samuel Ramey, bass (Gaudenzio)
English Chamber Orchestra
Ion Marin, conductor