160053 VO The Operas of Gioachino Rossini (2018S)

Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) was the main operatic composer of the first half of the 19th Century, a time that Carl Dahlhaus defined as “The Age of Beethoven and Rossini” to underline his crucial role and influence. Rossini’s works represent the connection between the late 18th-Century operas (written by Mozart, Paisiello, Cimarosa, etc…) and the following Romantic season led by Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi, Meyerbeer, Auber, whose main forms and structures were in fact defined by Rossini’s art and sense of dramaturgy.
Main goals of this course are the general knowledge and the analysis of the main features that characterize Rossini’s operas related to the musical context of his time: its roots (Italian opera between 1800-1810 and Wiener Klassik), the operatic world and his organization (impresarios, composers, librettists, singers, printers), voices and characters. More attention will be paid to specific topics, like dramaturgy and form of Rossini’s operas (ouvertures, recitativos, airs, duets, ensebles) and philological, critical and storiographic issues emerged after the phenomenon of the so called “Rossini Renaissance” starting from the second half of the 20th Century. This course includes the use of the well-known Barbiere di Siviglia as emblematic case study, and furthermore the meeting with two musicians (Beatrice Venezi, conductor, and Diana Mian, soprano) who can offer their insights on what it means performing Rossini's operas today.