Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

154 ROSSINI BOSSINI
to invent a happy conclusion, a fact which
throws a curious light on the dramatic taste
of the period.
The machinery, and power of rapidly changing
the scenes, were at that time so very imperfect
in smaller Italian theatres, that Eossini would
only accept the subject of Cinderella when
proposed to him by the manager of the Teatro
Valle at Rome, on condition that the supernatural
element was entirely omitted. A new
comic piece was therefore written by Ferretti
under the title of ' Generentola, ossia la bontJi
in trionfo '
; Eossini undertook it, and it was
produced at the Carnival of 1817. Its success
was unmistakable, though the cast was by no
means extraordinary-—Giorgi, Catarina, Eossi,
Guglielmi, De Begnis, Vemi, and Vitarelli.
In the profusion and charm of its ideas this
delicious work is probably equal to the ' Barbiere,'
but it is inferior in unity of style. No
doubt this is partly owing to the fact that
many of the pieces were originally composed to
other words than those to which they are now
sung. The duet Un ' soave non s6 ohe,' the
drinking-chorus, and the mock proclamation of
the Baron, are all borrowed from 'La Pietra
del Paragone '
; the air Miei rampoUi ' ' is from
'La Gazzetta,' where it was inspired by the
words Una prima ' ballerina ' ; the air of Eamiro
recalls that to Ah ' ! vieni ' in the trio in
Otello
'
; the (ielightful stretto of the finale,
'
the duet ' Zitto, zitto, ' the sestet ' Quest' h un
nodo avvilupato,' and various other incidental
passages originally belonged to the 'Turco in
Italia ' ; and the humorous duet Un ' segreto
is evidently modelled on that in Cimarosa's
'
Matrimonio. ' Such repetitions answered their
purpose at the moment, but while thus extemporising
his operas Eossini forgot that a
day would arrive when they would all be published,
and when such discoveries as those we
have mentioned, and as the existence of the
principal motif of the duet of the letter in
' Otello in the agitato of an air from Torvaldo
' '
e Dorliska,' would inevitably be made. As he
himself confessed in a letter about this time,
he thought he had a perfect right to rescue any
of his earlier airs from operas which had either
failed at the time or become forgotten since.
Whatever force there may be in this defence,
the fact remains that ' Generentola ' and the
'
Barbiere ' share between them the glory of
being Eossini's chefs d'osuvre in comic opera.
From Eome he went to Milan, to enjoy the
triumph of the 'Gazza ladra'—libretto by
Gherardini,—which was brought out on May 31,
1817, at the Scala. The Milanese found no
difference between the really fine parts of the
opera and those which are mere padding—of
which the Gazza ' ladra ' has several. Nor
would any one have noticed, even had they
had the necessary knowledge, that in the first
duet and the finale—as was the case also in the
'
—
'
finale to the ' Generentola '—Eossinihad borrowed
an effect from the Poco adagio of Mozart's Symphony
in C (Kbohel, p. 425) by maintaining a
sustained accompaniment in the wind while the
strings and the voices carry on the ideas and
the ornaments.
From Milan he returned to Naples, and produced
Armida ' ' during the autumn season, a
grand opera in three acts, with ballet, which
was mounted with great splendour, and enjoyed
the advantage of very good singers. The duet
' !
Amor, possente Nume '—which was soon to
be sung through the length and breadth of Italy,
the air 'Non soiEro 1' offensa,' the incantation
scene, the chorus of demons, and the airs de
ballet, would alone have been sufficient to excite
the Neapolitans ; but these were not the only
pieces applauded, and the remarkable trio In
'
quale aspetto imbelle,' written for three tenors
with extraordinary ease, a pretty chorus of
women Qui ' tutto fe calma,' and a scena with
chorus 'Germane a te riehiede'—afterwards
employed in the French version of Moise '—all
'
deserve mention.
This fine work had hardly made its appearance
before Eossini bad to dash off two more
'
Adelaide di Borgogna,' sometimes known as
'Ottone E4 d' Italia,' and an oratorio— 'Mose
'
in Egitto. ' Adelaide ' was produced at the
Argentina at Eome, in the Carnival of 1818,
was well sung and warmly received.
' Mosfe
was written for the San Carlo at Naples, and
brought out there in Lent with an excellent
oast— Isabella Colbran, Benedetti, Porto, and
Nozzari. Here for the first time Eossini was
so much pressed as to be compelled to call
in assistance, and employed his old and
tried friend Carafa in the recitatives and in
Pharaoh's air 'Aspettar mi.'i The scene of
the darkness was another step onwards, and
the whole work was much applauded, with the
exception of the passage of the Eed Sea, the
representation of which was always laughed at,
owing to the imperfection of the theatrical
appliances already spoken of. At the resumption
of the piece, therefore, in the following
Lent, Rossini added a chorus to divert attention
from the wretched attempt to represent the
dividing waves, and it is to the sins of the
Neapolitan stage machinists that we owe the
popular prayer 'Dal tuo stellato soglio.'
As some relaxation after this serious effort
he undertook, in the summer of 1818, a oneact
piece Adina, ' o il Galiffo di Bagdad," for the
San Carlos Theatre, Lisbon ; and immediately
after, ' Eicciardo e Zoraide ' for San Carlo,
Naples, which was sung to perfection at the
autumn season there by Isabella Colbran,
Pisaroni (whose excessive plainness was no bar
to her splendid singing), Nozzari, Davide, and
Cicimarra.
' Eicciardo ' was extraordinarily full of orna-
1 Omitted la the Italian score published in Fiuis.