Rossini and His Overtures

by Georg Predota, Interlude

Rossini’s Otello

We celebrate Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) as one of the most successful and popular operatic composers of his time. And although you might never have actually seen or heard a complete Rossini opera, I am sure you know a good many of his overtures. In fact, the overtures have long been staples of the orchestral repertory and much more frequently performed than the operas to which they belong. It is a curious situation in that the reputation of his dramas has never equaled the sweetness “of their melodies, the richness of their harmonies, the brilliance of their orchestration, and the power of their rhythms.” We do know that almost all of his overtures make use of musical elements and melodies that appear somewhere in the opera, which begs the question if Rossini composed the overture before or after he had completed the opera? According to legend, that’s exactly the question a young composer asked Rossini, who described six different ways of composing overtures. Rossini apparently said, “I composed the overture to Otello in a little room in which that most ferocious of all managers, Barbaja, shut me up with a dish of macaroni and told me that he would let me out only after the last note of the overture had been written.” As a point of reference, Otello was first performed in Naples at the Teatro del Fondo in 1816, and the notorious Barbaja was indeed involved. As far as the overture goes, this one was clearly written after the opera had been completed.

Rossini’s La Gazza Ladra

The same process was apparently at work with the overture to La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie). Rossini reports that he “wrote the overture to Gazza Ladra, on the very day of the first performance of the opera in the wings of the Scala Theatre in Milan. The manager had put me under the guard of four stagehands who were ordered to throw down the music pages, sheet by sheet, to copyist seated below. As the manuscript was copied, it was sent page by page to the conductor who then rehearsed the music. If I had failed to keep the production going fast, my guards were instructed to throw me in person down to the copyists.” Fortunately, Rossini was able to keep up, and therefore managed to witness the huge success of the opera. Rossini himself was thrilled by his opera and a few days after the première wrote in an excited letter to his mother “that it was so full of music that one could make three or four operas from it,” and that it was “the most beautiful music I have written so far.”

Rossini’s The Barber of Seville

Rossini’s opera buffa The Barber of Seville is primarily known today for its rousing overture. However, the premiere on 20 February 1816 at the Teatro Argentina in Rome was a disaster! The next day Rossini wrote to his mother, “Last night my opera was staged and it was solemnly booed, what mad, what extraordinary things are to be seen in this country. I will tell you that in the midst of it all the music is very fine and already people are talking about its second evening when the music will be heard, something that did not happen last night, from the beginning to the end without the constant noise accompanying the whole performance.” Rossini was entirely correct about the second performance, as it was an unqualified triumph. But how did Rossini compose the famous overture? He writes, “I made my task easier in the case of the overture to the Barber of Seville, which I left unwritten; instead I made use of the overture to my opera Elisabetta, which is a very serious opera, whereas the Barber of Seville is a comic opera.” In fact, the overture is actually twice re-cycled as he had originally written it for the opera Aureliano in Palmira of 1813.

Rossini’s Le Comte Ory

Rossini’s fourth opera for Paris, Le Comte Ory, was first staged at the Paris Opéra in August 1828. Set in thirteenth-century France, the opera deals with the attempts of Count Ory to woo the Countess Adèle, whose husband is away on a crusade. There is much disguising—including hermits and nuns—and everybody manages to run away just before the husband of the Countess returns. The “Introduction” is well matched to the plot, its outer sections suggesting the Count’s cunning exploits, with a martial passage at its heart, the returning opening section ending in the plucked notes of the strings.” How did Rossini go about composing the “Introduction?” According to the composer, “I composed the overture to the Comte Orly while fishing in the company of a Spanish musician who the whole time talked incessantly about the Spanish political situation.” Really doesn’t tell us much about the creative process, but it’s a nice anecdote nevertheless.

Rossini’s William Tell

When we talk about instrumental favorites in contemporary concert halls, we invariably stumble across the overture to William Tell. While the opera itself has been largely forgotten, the overture owns much of its popularity to varied incorporations within expressions of popular culture. Let’s not be deceived, however, because the popular appeal of Rossini’s William Tell Overture was instantaneous. It was immediately published independently from the opera, and Franz Liszt promptly fashioned his famous piano transcription. Rossini tells us that he “composed the overture to William Tell in the lodgings on the Boulevard Montmartre filled night and day with a crowd of people smoking, drinking, talking, singing, and bellowing in my ears while I was laboring on the music.”

Rossini’s Mosè in Egitto

If that little anecdote is true, Rossini must not have been easily distracted, except possibly by food. But his answer also indicates that composing was not always easy. Rossini confirms that notion by stating, “I never composed any overture to my opera Moses, which is the easiest way of all.”

Rossini and His Overtures

 by Georg Predota, Interlude

Rossini’s Otello

We celebrate Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) as one of the most successful and popular operatic composers of his time. And although you might never have actually seen or heard a complete Rossini opera, I am sure you know a good many of his overtures. In fact, the overtures have long been staples of the orchestral repertory and much more frequently performed than the operas to which they belong. It is a curious situation in that the reputation of his dramas has never equaled the sweetness “of their melodies, the richness of their harmonies, the brilliance of their orchestration, and the power of their rhythms.” We do know that almost all of his overtures make use of musical elements and melodies that appear somewhere in the opera, which begs the question if Rossini composed the overture before or after he had completed the opera? According to legend, that’s exactly the question a young composer asked Rossini, who described six different ways of composing overtures. Rossini apparently said, “I composed the overture to Otello in a little room in which that most ferocious of all managers, Barbaja, shut me up with a dish of macaroni and told me that he would let me out only after the last note of the overture had been written.” As a point of reference, Otello was first performed in Naples at the Teatro del Fondo in 1816, and the notorious Barbaja was indeed involved. As far as the overture goes, this one was clearly written after the opera had been completed.

Rossini’s La Gazza Ladra

The same process was apparently at work with the overture to La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie). Rossini reports that he “wrote the overture to Gazza Ladra, on the very day of the first performance of the opera in the wings of the Scala Theatre in Milan. The manager had put me under the guard of four stagehands who were ordered to throw down the music pages, sheet by sheet, to copyist seated below. As the manuscript was copied, it was sent page by page to the conductor who then rehearsed the music. If I had failed to keep the production going fast, my guards were instructed to throw me in person down to the copyists.” Fortunately, Rossini was able to keep up, and therefore managed to witness the huge success of the opera. Rossini himself was thrilled by his opera and a few days after the première wrote in an excited letter to his mother “that it was so full of music that one could make three or four operas from it,” and that it was “the most beautiful music I have written so far.”

Rossini’s The Barber of Seville

Rossini’s opera buffa The Barber of Seville is primarily known today for its rousing overture. However, the premiere on 20 February 1816 at the Teatro Argentina in Rome was a disaster! The next day Rossini wrote to his mother, “Last night my opera was staged and it was solemnly booed, what mad, what extraordinary things are to be seen in this country. I will tell you that in the midst of it all the music is very fine and already people are talking about its second evening when the music will be heard, something that did not happen last night, from the beginning to the end without the constant noise accompanying the whole performance.” Rossini was entirely correct about the second performance, as it was an unqualified triumph. But how did Rossini compose the famous overture? He writes, “I made my task easier in the case of the overture to the Barber of Seville, which I left unwritten; instead I made use of the overture to my opera Elisabetta, which is a very serious opera, whereas the Barber of Seville is a comic opera.” In fact, the overture is actually twice re-cycled as he had originally written it for the opera Aureliano in Palmira of 1813.

Rossini’s Le Comte Ory

Rossini’s fourth opera for Paris, Le Comte Ory, was first staged at the Paris Opéra in August 1828. Set in thirteenth-century France, the opera deals with the attempts of Count Ory to woo the Countess Adèle, whose husband is away on a crusade. There is much disguising—including hermits and nuns—and everybody manages to run away just before the husband of the Countess returns. The “Introduction” is well matched to the plot, its outer sections suggesting the Count’s cunning exploits, with a martial passage at its heart, the returning opening section ending in the plucked notes of the strings.” How did Rossini go about composing the “Introduction?” According to the composer, “I composed the overture to the Comte Orly while fishing in the company of a Spanish musician who the whole time talked incessantly about the Spanish political situation.” Really doesn’t tell us much about the creative process, but it’s a nice anecdote nevertheless.

Rossini’s William Tell

When we talk about instrumental favorites in contemporary concert halls, we invariably stumble across the overture to William Tell. While the opera itself has been largely forgotten, the overture owns much of its popularity to varied incorporations within expressions of popular culture. Let’s not be deceived, however, because the popular appeal of Rossini’s William Tell Overture was instantaneous. It was immediately published independently from the opera, and Franz Liszt promptly fashioned his famous piano transcription. Rossini tells us that he “composed the overture to William Tell in the lodgings on the Boulevard Montmartre filled night and day with a crowd of people smoking, drinking, talking, singing, and bellowing in my ears while I was laboring on the music.”

Rossini’s Mosè in Egitto

If that little anecdote is true, Rossini must not have been easily distracted, except possibly by food. But his answer also indicates that composing was not always easy. Rossini confirms that notion by stating, “I never composed any overture to my opera Moses, which is the easiest way of all.”

7 brilliant rags and pieces by Scott Joplin that you should know

Maple Leaf Rag was Scott Joplin’s biggest hit in his lifetime. Picture: Getty

By Maddy Shaw Roberts, ClassicFM London

 

From piano rags to rich opera overtures, here’s a look at Scott Joplin’s greatest works.

Since the revival of his music in the 1970s, history has remembered Scott Joplin as “the King of Ragtime”. His collection of rags is utterly identifiable, their sound joyously distinctive, and their complex bass patterns and sporadic syncopation still imitated by composers today.

But what’s also true is that Scott Joplin was one of the landmark American composers of the 20th century.

From his Pulitzer-winning opera to a rag-inspired classical waltz, here’s the very best of one of music history’s most extraordinary Black voices.

1. The Entertainer (1902)

   Scott Joplin’s death in April 1917 marked a lapsed interest in Ragtime and his music. And it wasn’t until over half a decade later that people started to turn their ears back to Joplin’s catchy rags. In the early 1970s, Joshua Rifkin released a hugely successful piano album of his works, and Academy Award-winning film The Sting used several of Joplin’s compositions including ‘The Entertainer’ and ‘Solace’ (see below), cueing a revival of the composer’s long-neglected musical catalogue.

   ‘The Entertainer’ was first published in the early 1900s as sheet music, in the form of piano rolls for player pianos. Now, it is one of the essential works in the piano canon. You’ll even hear it among the playlists of tempting music piped out of ice cream trucks in the US. Ragtime with your rum n’ raisin? Go on then…

   
   

   Scott Joplin's 'The Entertainer' played on a 1915 piano

   Credit: Lord Vinheteiro

2. Maple Leaf Rag (1899)

   Joplin was often plagued with financial woes and struggled to secure funding for many of his works. When his first rag, Original Rags, was published, he was forced to share credit with another arranger. For his second, Maple Leaf Rag, Joplin made sure he wasn’t going to get stung again. So, he hired a lawyer and made sure he would receive a one-cent royalty for every copy of sheet music sold (still, not exactly the big bucks).

   Maple Leaf Rag became Joplin’s first big hit, and the piece that made his name synonymous with ragtime. But while a steady stream of earnings from Maple Leaf made their way into Joplin’s pocket throughout his short lifetime, it was unfortunately a success never to be repeated.

   
   

   Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag – but it's played WAY too fast

   Credit: Kristen Mosca

   Maple Leaf Rag also inspired Joplin’s own elegant Gladiolus Rag – take a listen to their similarities below.

3. Solace (1909)

   Solace elevated the rag into a more developed artform. Unusually complex for a rag, it is the only known Joplin piece to use tango form and highlights Joplin’s lifelong desire to be a “serious” (his words) classical composer. Today, its staying power is perfectly demonstrated in its use as the loading music for video game BioShock Infinite.

4. Stoptime Rag (1910)

   Here is one of the first examples in music of stop-time – a device heard in jazz and blues, that is absolutely central to the rhythmic spirit of Ragtime. It grew popular around the turn of the century, and gives the impression in music that the tempo has changed.

   Joplin included directions in the music for performers to stomp their feet to the beat. Indeed, gone were the days of a left-hand accompaniment – instead, the left joins the right to create a melody line with richer harmony, while the pianist’s foot provides a percussive accompaniment of stamps.

   Read more: Meet George Walker, the first Black composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music

5. The Ragtime Dance (1902)

   This relentlessly toe-tapping dance was originally published for solo piano, with foot stamps written into the original sheet music to achieve that stop-time effect.

   In the 1980s, legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman came across The Ragtime Dance and fell in love with the piece. He rearranged it for violin, piano and finger snaps and brought pianist André Previn on board, giving Joplin’s piece the classical clout that it always deserved.

6. Bethena: A Concert Waltz (1905)

   Bethena: A Concert Waltz was the first piece Joplin wrote after his wife, Freddie, tragically died of pneumonia in September 1904, 10 weeks after their wedding.

   The piece was soon forgotten, but Joshua Rifkin’s 1970s album of piano rags helped revive this unique work that marries the classical waltz and the rag. It’s been described as “Joplin’s finest waltz”, one that shows his excellence as a classical composer.

7. Treemonisha (1911)

   Not one of his best-known works, but an important one for which Joplin was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1976, Treemonisha was one of Joplin’s two only operas (he also wrote one ballet).

   Speaking about forgotten Black classical composers, Comedian Lenny Henry writes for The Times: “What is great about Treemonisha is that the heroine does not die like most classical leading ladies – by the knife, by poison or yearning for a man – but becomes a leader of the community.

   “Joplin was way ahead of his time. He found it very difficult to get his work performed.”

   Treemonisha, which combines the Romanticism of the early 20th century with Black folk song tradition, was never staged in his lifetime. When it was finally first performed in 1972 by the Houston Grand Opera, one music historian described it as a “semimiracle”.

Nicole Kidman’s husband claims ‘violence at the opera'...

... as details of etiquette attack revealed

Sydney Opera House audience member ‘whacked’ Nicole Kidman with his program in standing ovation dispute. Picture: Getty

By Maddy Shaw Roberts, ClassicFM London

 

Keith Urban claims “violence at the opera” after his wife, actor Nicole Kidman, found herself the victim of a Sydney Opera House audience member’s bewildering rage.

Actor Nicole Kidman was “whacked” by an angry opera audience member brandishing a program, her husband, singer Keith Urban, has alleged in a radio interview.

Wanting to show their appreciation for Opera Australia’s acclaimed production of Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow, the pair joined their fellow opera lovers at Sydney Opera House in a standing ovation for the night’s star performers.

But one man, sitting behind the couple, grew irritated with their enthusiasm and told them to sit back down, according to Urban. Wanting to show his appreciation for the cast, Urban refused and carried on standing and clapping.

“We were sitting down with Nic’s mum and we were clapping,” Urban said on Australia’s The Kyle & Jackie O Show on KIIS FM radio. “It was a bloody great performance, and everyone was cheering and cheering.

“I looked around and I see a few people standing and a few more and I thought ‘Oh, I’m getting up’. And then this guy behind me just whacked Nic, like really hit her, with the program.”

Kidman then allegedly told Urban that the aggrieved Lehár lover had “just hit me”.

Urban added: “I was like, ‘What?! Violence at the opera!’ It’s a bit of a pickle I was in because I’m a husband and you want to defend your wife, but it took a lot of restraint. I was pretty upset.”

Read more: Tourists who paid £1,400 to watch Andrea Bocelli complain he sang a ‘boring’ opera >

The Hollywood star enjoyed a night at the opera in Sydney. Picture: Instagram/Nicole Kidman

Urban explained that he did not know standing ovations weren’t usual practice at the Opera House, as he had never attended an opera before.

The pair enjoyed their night out with Kidman’s mum, after completing mandatory quarantine, in Sydney, where live performances can now take place again with social distancing and mask-wearing.

After the incident, Urban called over their bodyguards to escort Nicole and her mum out of the venue. The opera house’s security also intervened, and police were soon summoned.

“Police have been told a 53-year-old man and a 67-year-old man were both attending the entertainment centre when an argument broke out. Officers spoke to both men and no further action was taken,” NSW Police had said in a statement.

After the incident was all cleared up, Nicole and Keith stayed behind at the venue so they could greet the star singers backstage.

Opera Australia boss, Lyndon Terracini, led the couple through to the stage door, where they took a photo with Australian-Italian tenor Virgilio Marino.

“Thank you Opera Australia! So beautiful to be back at the theatre,” Kidman posted in a message to her Instagram Stories, adding: “Making my mumma happy at The Merry Widow.”

Never a dull night at the opera...

Christoph Willibald Gluck - His Music and His Life

Christoph Willibald Gluck was a famous opera composer of the classical period. Read on to know more about Christoph Willibald Gluck’s profile, childhood, life and timeline in this biography.

Born on

02 July 1714 AD 

Zodiac Sign

Died on

15 November 1787 AD

A prolific opera composer of the classical period, Christoph Gluck was credited for bringing in concrete reforms to the opera's dramaturgical practices. His opera compositions were spread over various operatic genres. Born to a Bohemian (Czech) father in 1714, Gluck learned music at a tender age of three. After completing his studies in Prague, he moved to Milan to gain practical knowledge of all the instruments. His passion for music took him around the world such as London, Prague, Vienna, and Venice. He was also awarded the 'Order of the Golden Spur' in 1756 by Pope Benedict XIV. His musical legacy includes around 35 complete operas and numerous other compositions. He was also widely credited for his countless ballets and instrumental works. His disciples ardently followed his styles of music throughout the Revolutionary and the Napoleonic period. The composer died in 1787 after he suffered a stroke. Read on to know more about this great opera composer and his life. 

Early Life & Childhood 
 

Christoph Gluck was born on July 2, 1714 to Alexander Johannes and Maria Walburga in Erasbach, Germany. A few years after his birth, the family moved to Bohemia in 1717. At a very young age, Gluck was introduced to music by way of the church choir. It is also speculated that he studied logic and mathematics in 1731 at the University of Prague, but failed to receive his degree for the same. And up until 1737, there are no records that talk about his whereabouts, as the accounts are very vague and ambiguous.
 
Musical Career
 

Gluck moved to Milan to study and gain practical knowledge of all the instruments under the guidance of G. B. Sammartini in 1737. He moved Sammartini with his sacred music and symphonies. Gluck was also taken aback by the vibrant operas and formed an association with opera houses, such as the Teatro Regio Ducal. In 1741, Gluck’s first opera ‘Artaserse’ was performed here. Gluck was also given the opportunity to perform the same opera for the open of the Milanese Carnival in 1742. Due to its raving success, he continued to compose operas for each of the next four Carnivals in Milan. He was later offered the post of house composer at London's King's Theatre in 1745. But due to the ‘Jacobite Rebellion’, the theatre was closed for a year. After four years, Gluck’s operas, ‘La caduta de'giganti’ and ‘Artamene’ were performed.
 
The next year Gluck was bestowed with two great opportunities. The first was a commission to compose an opera for Dresden, performed by Pietro Mingotti's troupe. This was for the royal wedding between the Bavaria and Saxony families. The success of his work brought him to the attention of the Viennese court and he was selected to compose ‘Metastasio's Semiramide riconosciuta’ to celebrate Maria Theresa's birthday. He then continued to tour with Mingotti's troupe. After he left the troupe he joined another group in Prague. The second opportunity arose when he was asked to compose an opera for the Prague Carnival in 1750, called the ‘Ezio’. Then, in 1752, he was asked to perform ‘Metastasio's La clemenza di Tito’ for the ‘nameday celebrations’ of King Charles VII of Naples. He composed the famous aria ‘Se mai senti spirarti sul volto’ and was praised for the same by various musicians. When Gluck finally settled in Vienna, he became the ‘Kapellmeister’ in 1754. Christoph was bestowed with the honor of ‘Knight of the Golden Spur’ by Pope Benedict XIV. After he received this honor, Gluck started using the title "Ritter von Gluck" or "Chevalier de Gluck." He began to write ‘opéra comiques’ and with the collaboration of Gasparo Angiolini (choreographer), Gluck produced his revolutionary ballet, ‘Don Juan’. In 1774, Gluck’s influence in Paris started a huge controversy, where the town was divided into "Gluckists" and "Piccinnists” after the famous Italian composer, Niccolò Piccinni. After a period of brief turmoil, Antonio Salieri, Gluck’s protégé, collaborated with him on ‘Les Danaïdes’, which premiered on April 26, 1784.
 
Important Compositions
 

Gluck’s music style was criticized by a lot by people who still preferred traditional Italian compositions. Due to influences from various teachers and important musicians, his operas symbolized the beginning of modern, musical dramas that marked the end for ‘opera seria’ styles. Most of Gluck’s compositions were influenced by Italian sacred music. Apart from his major compositions, Gluck composed a few arias, solo motets, and chorals. He also composed 9 symphonies, 6 trio sonatas and 2 trio sonatas.
 
Personal Life
 

When Gluck lived in Prague, he married the 18 year old daughter of a rich Viennese merchant on September 15, 1750. She was Maria Anna Bergin.
 
Death

While rehearsing for ‘Echo et Narcisse’, Gluck suffered his first stroke after which he moved to Vienna. During his last years, he lost interest in composing for opera houses, despite countless offers. His health continued to deteriorate and he suffered three more strokes. On November 15, 1787, Gluck suffered another fatal stroke and passed away a few days later. He was interred at the ‘Matzleinsdorfer Friedhof’ before being moved to a tomb in the Vienna Zentralfriedhof as the former cemetery was converted into a park in 1923. 

Anna Nicole Smith Returns to the Royal Opera

Mark Anthony Turnage's controversial opera based on the life of Anna Nicole Smith makes a return to the Royal Opera House, and we've got all the pictures. Watch out for Classic FM's very own Wynne Evans, reprising his role as the Mayor of Mexia.

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"Hansel und Gretel" - "The Overture" by Engelbert Humperdinck