ROSSINI, GIOACCHINO. (1792-1868). Italian composer of The Barber of Seville and other operatic masterpieces. ALS. (“G. Rossini”). 1p. Small 4to. Passy (Paris), June 16, 1862. To a notary, Francesco Buccani, at the Archivio dei Contratti in Florence. In Italian with translation.
“Please be so kind to deliver (as soon as possible) the enclosed [?] to Mr. Capezzuoli, who has your orders to reimburse Mr. Rinieri [?] upon receiving the corresponding receipt, as well as to compensate the composer … for his work. I repeat what I wrote to you in another letter: with Mr. Capezzuoli’s arrival in Paris, we will arrange the approval you so greatly desire. Believe me. Kind regards to your wife, also on behalf of my wife…”
Rossini began his musical career with the hope of becoming a singer, but when his voice proved unsuitable he threw himself into composing in the fashionable comic, opera buffa, style. Rossini was not content, however, to merely replicate the existing, popular style; instead, he embellished his melodies, enlivened the ensembles and finales, and put the singers at the service of his music. He was fawned over by his supporters when he arrived in Paris in 1823. In 1829 he wrote his pièce de resistance, William Tell, winning rave reviews from critics and audiences alike. Shortly thereafter, exhausted and ill, Rossini retired to Bologna, and, save for a few sacred works, he composed relatively little during the next 20 years. Rossini lived in Florence from 1848 to 1855, before returning to Paris and, during his final years, composed his Péchés de vieillesse (Sins of Old Age), 150 pieces of salon music written between 1857 and his death in 1868 as well as sacred works like Petite Messe Solennelle in 1863.
Our letter was written from his home in the Paris suburb of Passy, just a few months after celebrations of his 70th birthday which included the erection of a statue in his honor.
Folded with some matte burn and light show-through from the address panel on the sheet’s verso as well as a small tear in the right margin resulting from the wax seal.
