Book Description

Rossini was without a doubt the most highly sought after composer of his time, in an age when opera was not only more popular than we can imagine, it was also a powerful political tool. For his many fans the tragic mystery of his life is why, after having written 39 operas, did he stop composing at just 32 years of age? After the Napoleonic occupation the romantic movement swept Europe, and it is clear that Rossini is linked to both the neoclassical era and romanticism, caught between monarchies and revolutions, autocracy and liberalism. Indeed Wagner, who had exchanged many ideas with Rossini, thought that Rossini could be understood only in the context of his historical era. Following triumphant years in Italy, he encountered the greatness of romanticism in the Paris salons, where he met Victor Hugo, Honoré de Balzac and Eugéne Delacroix, among others. But by nature he was a depressive and had come to hate both the public and himself. When Beethoven told him that he should stick to comedies, Rossini never forgot or forgave him. Having kept his disillusionment to himself all his life, at the end he resolved to complain - to God, to whom he dedicated his final 'Petite Messe'. The mass was not intended for the undeserving many, it was to be performed only for his few true friends and God alone. With significant new material and previously unpublished letters, the author sheds a remarkable light on the mystery of Rossini's life. She puts in context the composer's difficult childhood and impoverished family life, his women, the divas, his nervous illnesses and not least his wonderful creative intelligence, and sets the story against the sweep of European history.