Lyrics Introduction - David Timson

It is marvelous tunes like that which make Rossini the best loved and
Most successful of all writers of comic opera. And of his comic
Operas, none is more famous or more frequently performed than The
Barber of Seville. Rossini, master of comedy; Rossini, high priest of
The age of bel canto; Rossini, the bon viveur whose laziness and
Fondness for good food were legends in his lifetime - all these light
And frivolous images come to mind when the name of Rossini is
Mentioned. The very fattening tournedos Rossini - a fillet steak with
Pate de foie gras melted over it - is named after him. But the truth
About Rossini was richer and more complex even than the legends
Rossini's life had more twists and turns, more paradoxes, than even
The most convoluted of his comic opera plots. For a start, try this
Paradox. Rossini was born in 1792 - and has just celebrated his
Fifty-second birthday. How come? Because he was born in Pesaro on
The Adriatic coast on February 29th, leap year's day, 1792. How the
Old rogue would have relished the paradox that as his juniors reach
Their hundred and fiftieth anniversaries and more, he is on the edge
Of middle age. It's as if he never really grew old. And, in a sense
He didn't. Because his music is as fresh and tuneful, as full of
Delights and brilliant comic invention, as the day he wrote it
Paradox number two. Though he is best remembered as a composer of
Comic operas like The Italian Girl in Algiers, Cinderella
La Cenerentola in Italian), The Turk in Italy, The Barber of Seville
And more, of the forty or more operas he wrote in his career, the
Vast majority were on serious subjects. Yet, until only a few years
Ago, these serious works were completely ignored, and Rossini was
Seen as a highly successful comedian of the opera house. We even have
The advice of Beethoven on the subject, who allegedly advised Rossini
To "make more barbers". Paradox number three has it that Rossini was
Lazy. So lazy that a story went the rounds of the morning he was
Sitting up in bed, surrounded by plump pillows, writing an opera
He composed a tenor aria, put it on the bed beside him, and
Unfortunately, it slipped off and fell to the floor
Rossini was too lazy to get out of bed, so he just wrote
Another tenor aria. True? Who knows? But the Italians have
A wonderful expression: "Se non è vero, è ben trovato"
Which means that even if it isn't true, it might as well be
Italy at the beginning of the nineteenth century had an amazingly
Vibrant, exciting and often chaotic operatic climate, rather like
England in the Elizabethan age, or the early days of Hollywood. Mad
Erratic directors, harassed producers, vain and overfed stars, all
Producing work under conditions that would kill an ox, yet producing
Work of astonishing quality and value. Shakespeare, Marlowe, Beaumont
And Fletcher, Mack Sennett, Charlie Chaplin and D.W. Griffiths
Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini would all sympathize with the
Deadline-driven writer of TV sitcoms. It would certainly never
Have occurred to Rossini that we would be discussing his opera
Two hundred years after its first performance. So it was that
Donizetti, who wrote over seventy operas in a tragically short
Life, could complete one of his great tragedies in three weeks
And Rossini could complete a score of the length and complexity
Of The Barber of Seville in an amazing fourteen days
But the greatest paradox of Rossini was his own life. Amazingly gifted
And a prodigy almost on the scale of Mozart, he had his first opera
Produced in Venice when he was eighteen. He was director of the
Immensely prestigious San Carlo Opera in Naples, still Italy's
Loveliest opera house, at the age of twenty-two. In the next seven
Years, he would produce ten grand, tragic operas for that theatre
He was only twenty-four when his Barber of Seville received its
Notoriously disastrous premiere in Rome in 1816. His fortieth and
Final opera was William Tell, best remembered now for its famous
Lone Ranger overture. This was written in French as Guillaume Tell
For the Paris Opera when the composer was just short of forty. He
Would go on to live for another nearly forty years, and write no
More operas. Why ever not? Well, musicologists have debated that
One for a hundred and fifty years. One cynical explanation was that
Rossini had made his name and his fortune as Italy's most successful
Composer, and like many another successful businessman, was willing
And able to retire at forty and live a life of ease. Another
Maybe more credible, reason was that the world was changing more
Dramatically in the post-Napoleonic era, and faster, maybe, than in
Any age up until our own. And Rossini, whose roots were in the late
Eighteenth century, simply felt out of place in the age of the
Romantics. His social comedies, farces almost, had no place in the
Deeply serious age of The Sorrows of Young Werther. His great set
Pieces like Semiramide, his last opera for Italy, may have seemed
Dated against the realism gradually
Gaining a foothold in the theatre
Or, maybe, he was lazy, and was simply unwilling to write operas of
The massive five-act duration and musical density required by the
Audiences of Paris, where he lived. Whatever the reason, Rossini
Lived in luxurious retirement in Paris for forty years, putting on
Weight, holding salon - where his biting and cynical wit became
Legendary - and acting the role of grand seigneur to perfection
Maybe of all the composers who have ever lived, the one with whom you
Could have spent the best evening of conversation, great food and
Wine was Rossini. Rossini or Schubert. But we need to go back to the
Rome of 1816. It was there that the disastrous
Premiere took place of an opera which we now
Regard as among the treasures of the repertoire