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"Without music, life would be a blank to me." - Jane Austen

Gioachino Rossini

Gioachino Rossini was born in 1797 in Pesaro, born to a hornist and opera singer. He spent his youth in the opera hall and at the age of 14 he started his studies to become a composer in Bologna, where he was taught to use a strict counterpoint technique. Quite soon, Rossini composing a large number of operas: his famous comic operas (among which his Il Barbiere di Siviglia) in his early twenties, and most of his serious operas in his late twenties. With his compelling, rhythmic music, which was characterised by its orchestral exuberance and coloratura fireworks, Rossini took over the world of music, to the frustration of critics and academics.  When he reached the age of 31, he left Italy and traveled to London and Paris. His success made him powerfully rich. Rossini retired early. With almost 40 years still to live, he composed his last opera, Guillaume Tell, in Paris. Some reasons for his unexpected retirement could be his recurring illness, his financial stability and the adverse political and artistic conditions of the time. For 20 years, Rossini struggled with his health. He returned to Paris in 1855, where he recovered to some extent. Together with his wife, he organised special dinner parties for the upper class, and for those occasions he wrote his many chamber music works, which he referred to as his Péchés de Vieillesse. He died in 1868.  Rossini's image is characterised by the many humoristic anecdotes about him. Yet, even though his comic operas are masterfully composed, his serious operas have been truly influential and formed the basis for the romantic operas of Donizetti and Bellini.

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Gioachino Rossini, Ferdinando Carulli, Ludwig van Beethoven
Guitar & Fortepiano
Sheila Arnold & Alexander-Sergei Ramírez
Ludwig van Beethoven, Gioachino Rossini, Johannes Brahms
Beethoven Brahms Rossini
Stefan Blonk
Various composers
Jewels of the Bel Canto - Arias by Donizetti, Bellini, Verdi & Rossini
Elena Xanthoudakis
Recordings
Netherlands Symphony Orchestra
Felix Mendelssohn, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Gioachino Rossini
Young Hearts on Fire
Ensemble Caméléon
Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Gioachino Rossini
LCO Live
London Chamber Orchestra
Petite Messe Solennelle
Quink Vocal Ensemble
Various composers
Una Voce.........Per Clarone
Trio Di Clarone
Humoresque, Op. 20 Symphonic Etudes, Op. 13
De Grado, Andrew
19th Century Music for Wind Instruments
Biedermeier Quintet
Gioachino Rossini
Variations for Clarinet and Orchestra a.o.
Per Musica
Opera 4 Hands Vol 2
Julian Reynolds / Peter Lockwood
Gioachino Rossini, Vincenzo Bellini, Gaetano Donizetti
Pinocchio
Frank Groothof
Gioachino Rossini
De Mooiste Ouvertures Van Rossini
Various Artists
Live At The Concertgebouw
Nelly Miricioiu