Rossini, despite rejecting seditious ideas, had contact with Italian exiles in Paris after the failed independence movements of 1831 and understood their feelings of homesickness, as shown in his song L'Esule ('The Exile').
Cultural Impact
Rossini demonstrated his openness to technological innovation by sending an Allegretto via the 'pantélégraphe', an early 'fax' device invented by Giovanni Caselli, in 1860.
Composition History
Rossini organized his later compositions, which he called Péchés de vieillesse ('Sins of Old Age'), into albums with the clear objective of enabling his wife, Olympe, to sell them to publishers after his death.
Composer Biography
Rossini dedicated Au chevet d'un Mourant (Élégie) to Madame de Lafitte, the sister of Émilien Pacini, whose father, Antonio Pacini, was a significant publisher of Rossini's works.
Historical Context
The term 'baritone' only gained currency around the mid-19th century, leading Rossini to sometimes flippantly label this voice category as 'baryton moderne'.
Compositional Technique
Rossini often used a specific Metastasio text, 'Mi lagnerò tacendo', as a 'syllable provider' for more demanding compositions, such as a tirana, stripping it of its semantic meaning.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Unlike his youth when he composed operas with a libretto, in his old age Rossini developed musical ideas even without a poem, sometimes using the same lines from Metastasio's Siroe as a syllabic underlay.
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