In this article we discover how Rossini met Beethoven, what were his impressions and what did they think about each other and their music.
Who was Gioachino Rossini?
Gioachino Antonio Rossini, (born February 29, 1792, Pesaro, Italy – died November 13, 1868, Passy, France) was an Italian composer, mostly famous for his operas in the comic genre (opera buffa).
He was born into a musician family, his father a trumpeter, his mother a singer. The parents were not very talented nor successful, the family mostly lived in poverty. The lazy student Rossini spent his childhood in the theatre, observing the show-business closely. His was more talented in the field of music! He had entered Bologna’s Philharmonic School at the age of 14 and soon mastered the harpsichord, violin and horn. He also began to compose, his first opera, for a private request, Demetrio e Polibio was premiered when he was 18 years old. As a young man, he was a singer too, performing often in theatres. Later his voice had changed and had to give up singing.
His first staged opera was La cambiale di matrimonio (The Marriage Contract). The play was a hit and Rossini received a reward he never imagined, “forty scudi – an amount I had never seen brought together”. At this moment the family realized that his future is in composing operas.
In his active years, that is no more than 20 years, Rossini created some 40 operas. His works were staged in Rome, Milan, Venice and Naples. He travelled Europe, spent time in London and Paris. His most famous operas are the The Barber of Seville, Cinderella and his last opera, probably the most famous one, William Tell.
|Related: A short history of Italian and German opera
At the age of 37, Rossini retired from compositions. The reasons and real reasons are debated ever since. The poet Heine compared his decision to Shakespeare’s withdrawal from writing, suggesting that probably Rossini realized he had reached his peak and the best is to leave on high. Others pointed to his physical and mental illness. He died at the age of 76, in France.
Rossini in Vienna
In 1822 Rossini visited Vienna (his first visit). By the time, he already was a continent-wide celebrity and Vienna was no exception. His visit and the audience’s reaction was described as unprecedentedly feverish enthusiasm, and near hysteria. Even the ever suspicious chancellor of the Austrian Empire, Metternich was a fan. Partly because he thought Rossini’s music had no political intentions…
In a period of three months, the San Carlo company played six of Rossini’s operas, including the premier of Zelmira, with such a success, that Anton Schindler (Beethoven’s assistant) described the events as idolatrous orgies.
The meeting of Beethoven and Rossini
Amid the love showered towards Rossini, testimony to his taste and character, he never forgot a certain local celebrity by the name of Beethoven. Especially after hearing Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony, that “knocked me over” – as he later confessed.
First, he approached Salieri to facilitate the meeting. The old master recommended to turn to Carpani (an Italian poet, whom Beethoven liked) instead, and that he did.
The meeting finally happened and Rossini remembered approaching the residence of Beethoven saying,
“Shall I confess it? When I mounted the stairs leading to the poor lodgings of the great man, I barely mastered my emotions. When the door opened, I found myself in a sort of attic terribly disordered and dirty. I remember particularly the ceiling. It was under the roof and showed crevices through which the rain could not help pouring down in streams.”
He found the face of the legendary composer as the well-known portraits paint him, but adds “what no etcher’s needle could express was the indefinable sadness spread over his features—while from under heavy eyebrows his eyes shone as from out of caverns and, though small, seemed to pierce one.”
Beethoven, in soft and slightly veiled voice, in fairly good Italian said to him, “Ah! Rossini, you, the composer of the Barbiere di Seviglia? My congratulations; that is an excellent opera buffa; I have read it with pleasure and I enjoyed myself. It will be played so long as Italian opera will exist. Do never try your hand at anything but opera buffa; you would be doing violence to your destiny by wanting to succeed in a different genre.”
At this point Carpani tried to draw Beethoven’s attention to the fact that Rossini created serious opera (opera seria) with success. The Master continued, “…but, you see, serious opera does not lie in the nature of the Italians. For the true drama, they know not enough of the science of music; and how should they acquire that in Italy? In opera buffa, none can equal Italians. Your language and your temperament predestine you for it.”
The visit was short, mainly because of the difficulty in communication. At this point Beethoven’s hearing was almost completely lost and questions had to be written down. Rossini went on to express his admiration and his gratitude for having the opportunity to express it. “Oh! un infelice.” (Oh, I’m an unhappy person!) – replied Beethoven with a deep sigh.
As he lead them to the door to conclude the visit he said, “Above all, do a lot ‘of the Barber!”
Rossini was moved. “When I descended those dilapidated stairs, I retained of my visit to this great man an impression so painful—thinking of this destitution and shabbiness—that I could not repress my tears.” – he remembered.
That evening Rossini was invited for a gala dinner at the palace of Prince Metternich, but he could not let the sadness of the earlier visit go.
“I confess, I could not rid myself in my heart of a sentiment of embarrassment when I saw myself, by comparison, treated with such consideration by that brilliant Viennese assembly. This led me to say loudly and without mincing words all I thought of the conduct of the Court and the aristocracy towards the greatest genius of the epoch, about whom one bothered so little and whom one left in such distress.”
During his stay in Vienna, Rossini pushed two proposals to help Beethoven. One was a fund with annual subscriptions from the wealthy Viennese, but this was not supported. The second idea was to buy him a house, something that is worthy to his fame. This finally had some backers, but not enough to happen. “He is a misanthrope, cranky and can’t keep friends. You do not know Beethoven. On the day after he finds himself the owner of a house, he will sell it. He will never know how to adjust himself to a permanent home; he feels the need of changing his lodgings every six months and his servant every six weeks…” – said the Viennese.
After the gala dinner at Metternich, there was a concert, one of the pieces was a Beethoven Trio. As Rossini was listening he made the observation,
“The new masterwork was listened to with religious respect and obtained a resplendent success. Hearing it in the midst of all those mundane magnificences, I said to myself sadly that perhaps at that very moment the great man was creating in the isolation of his attic some work of deep inspiration, destined, like his previous ones, to initiate into sublime beauties this same brilliant aristocracy from which he was excluded and which, given over to its pleasures, did not worry about the misery of him who had furnished the pleasures.”
Beethoven on Rossini
Beethoven knew the talent Rossini had and respected him for that. He respected him for his creative powers that allowed so many operas to be composed in such short time. However, he did not consider the Italian way seriously! In fact, he was annoyed by these Italians, who steered the audiences towards lighter music. This was not his comfort zone and he knew he would not go there.
“What is Rossini?” – a question was asked from him. He answered, “A good scene-painter. … The Bohemians are born musicians; the Italians ought to take them as models. What have they to show for their famous conservatories? Behold their idol—Rossini! If Dame Fortune had not given him a pretty talent and pretty melodies by the bushel, what he learned at school would have brought him nothing but potatoes for his big belly!”
Another occasion he had this to say, “Rossini is a talented and a melodious composer; his music suits the frivolous and sensuous spirit of the times, and his productivity is so great that he needs only as many weeks as the Germans need years to write an opera.”
He observed the change in public taste and was annoyed by it, but he was never disturbed. “Well, they can not rob me of my place in musical history.” – he said.
