extricated himself by reversing the situations, and introducing all kinds of tricks. The second violins mark each bar in the overture by a stroke of the bow on the lamp shade; the bass sings at the top of his register and the soprano at the bottom of hers; a funeral march intrudes itself into one of the most comical scenes; and in the finale the words 'son pentito' are so arranged that nothing is heard but 'tito, tito, tito.' Those of the audience who had been taken into the secret were in roars of laughter, but the strangers who had paid for their places in good faith, were naturally annoyed and hissed loudly. But no complaints were of any avail with Rossini, he only laughed at the success of his joke. 'I due Bruschini' disappeared after the first night, and the remembrance of it was very shortly wiped out by the appearance of 'Tancredi' at the Fenice during the Carnival. The characters were taken by Manfredini, Malanotte, Todran, and Bianchi. A work so important and so full of spirit, effect, and melody, was naturally received with enthusiasm, and nobody had time to notice that the long crescendo of the finale strongly resembled that of Paisiello's 'Re Teodoro,' that a phrase in the first duo, to the words 'Palesa almen,' is borrowed from Paer's 'Agnese,' and that the allegro in E flat of the grand duet, 'Si tu sol crudel,' is also borrowed from the 'Sofonisba' of the same composer. Such criticisms as these were lost in the general admiration at the new and spirited character of the music. It was in fact the first step in the revolution which Rossini was destined to effect in Italian opera. All Venice, and very soon all Italy, was singing or humming 'Mi rivedrai, ti rivedrò.' Hardly any one now remembers that it is only to the happy accident that Malanotte was dissatisfied with her air, and insisted on its being rewritten, that we owe the 'Di tanti palpiti,' which was nicknamed the 'aria de' rizzi,' because it was said to have been dashed off while waiting for a dish of rice. One must read the accounts of the day to understand the madness—for it was nothing else—which 'Tancredi' excited among the Venetians. 'I fancied,' said Rossini, with his usual gaiety, 'that after hearing my opera they would put me into a madhouse—on the contrary, they were madder than I.'
Henceforward he was as much fêted for his social qualities as for his music. But he did not give way to such dissipations for long. His next work was 'L'Italiana in Algeri,' an opera buffa produced at the San Benedetto theatre, Venice, in the summer of 1813. Its greatest novelty was the famous trio 'Papataci,' a charming union of melody and genuine comedy; while the patriotic air, 'Pensà alla Patria,' which closes the work, spoke not less powerfully to the hearts of his countrymen.
'Aureliano in Palmira' and 'Il Turco in Italia' both belong to 1814 [App. p.776 "1813–14"], and were brought out at the Scala, Milan, the first in the Carnival [App. p.776 "in Dec. 1813"], the second in the autumn season, before an audience somewhat more critical than that at Venice. 'Aureliano,' though it contains some fine things, which were afterwards utilised in 'Elisabetta' and the 'Barbiere,' was a fiasco. The 'Turco' too was not received with the applause which it afterwards commanded. Rossini, however, was greatly fêted during his stay in Milan, and among his 'amiable protectresses'—to use the expression of Stendhal—was the Princess Belgiojoso, for whom he composed a cantata entitled 'Egle ed Irene.' His next opera, 'Sigismondo,' written for the Fenice at Venice, in the Carnival of 1815, was unsuccessful, and the failure so far affected him as to make him give up work for a time, and retire to his home at Bologna. There he encountered Barbaja, who from being a waiter at a coffee-house had become the farmer of the public gaming-tables and impresario of the Naples theatre. Barbaja though rich was still bent on making money; he had heard of the success of the young composer, and of his brilliant talents, and was resolved to get hold of him; and Rossini, with the support of his parents on his hands, was ready enough to listen to any good proposal. He accordingly engaged with Barbaja to take the musical direction of the San Carlo and Del Fondo theatres at Naples, and to compose annually an opera for each. For this he was to receive 200 ducats (about £35) per month, with a small share in the gaming-tables, amounting in addition to some 1000 ducats per annum, for which however he obtained no compensation after the tables were abolished in 1820.
During Murat's visit to Bologna in April 1815 Rossini composed a cantata in favour of Italian independence; but politics were not his line, and he arrived in Naples fully conscious of this, and resolved that nothing should induce him to repeat the experiment. The arrival of a young composer with so great a reputation for originality was not altogether pleasing to Zingarelli, the chief of the Conservatoire, or to the aged Paisiello. But no intrigues could prevent the brilliant success of 'Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra,' which was produced before the Court for the opening of the autumn season, 1815, and in which Mlle. Colbran, Dardanelli, Manuel Garcia, and Nozzari took the principal parts. The libretto of this opera was by a certain Schmidt, and it is a curious fact that some of its incidents anticipate those of 'Kenilworth,' which was not published till several[1] years later; a coincidence still more remarkable when the difference between the two authors is taken into account—Walter Scott gay, romantic, and famous, Schmidt unknown and obscure, and, though not wanting in imagination, so gloomy as to have damped the spirits of Rossini by his mere appearance and conversation. Two historical facts should be noted in regard to 'Elisabetta.' It is the first opera in which Rossini so far distrusted his singers as to write in the ornaments of the airs; and it is also the first in which he replaced the recitative secco by a recitative accompanied by the stringed quartet. The overture and the finale to the first act of 'Elisabetta' are taken from 'Aureliano.'
- ↑ January, 1821.
