1792 On February 29th, Rossini was born in Pizarro, a small town near Venice Bay, Italy. His father, Jujep Rossini, used to be an inspector in a slaughterhouse, but he was dismissed after the restoration of the feudal regime because he supported democracy and the government. Zhu's wife used to be a singer in the theater. After her husband was dismissed, both husband and wife became vagrants.
Little Rossini drifted around with his parents since childhood and lived a life of traveling around the world.
1806, Rossini was admitted to Bologna Conservatory of Music to study cello performance. The school soon found that the young Pizarro had excellent musical talent, so it added two difficult theoretical courses to him-counterpoint and composition. No matter how difficult the homework is, Father Mattei can finish it easily. Not only that, his music creation is effortless, productive and rapid, which often makes him the object of surprise and the topic of discussion for all teachers and students.
Rossini is full of vivid musical flavor, but Father Mattei's teaching system is very old-fashioned, tedious and boring, which inevitably leads to sharp contradictions. Young Pizarro people have to plunge into the well-stocked school library and draw nutrition from the works of their predecessors.
18 10, Rossini graduated from Bologna Conservatory of Music, 18 years old. Like his parents, he became a member of the wandering troupe. In the troupe, he is both an actor, a conductor and a composer.
In order to meet the needs of performances, Rossini writes five or six operas a year. Due to numerous affairs and pressing time, he could not carefully conceive and scrutinize every work and every detail, thus leaving a rough and hasty trace in many places.
At that time, most influential composers tried their best to vilify Rossini, because they deeply felt that this young man was undoubtedly their arch-rival. The president of Naples Conservatory of Music explicitly forbids students to read Rossini's score. A "famous artist" even accused Rossini of being a "dissolute musician who doesn't know the rules of art and lacks noble taste".
Father Matai angrily wrote to his famous student and scolded him, saying, "Stop composing music! It's a pity that you have disgraced my school. " In this regard, Rossini responded humorously in his reply: "Dear teacher: Please wait patiently! In order to make a living, I write five or six operas a year. The manuscript was given to the copywriter before it was dry, and I didn't even have time to read it. When I am not so busy in the future, I will start writing music that is worthy of you! "
Rossini was not fooled by these harsh criticisms. He is well aware that the shortcomings in his works are caused by haste and inexperience. On his own music score, he personally marked the so-called grammatical mistakes in music with a cross, and beside it, he noted: In order to meet the requirements of pedants.
18 13 years, Rossini's opera Tancredi was a great success. The melody of the play is sung everywhere in the streets, cities and villages. French writer Stendhal wrote: "In Italy, there is a man who is talked about more than Napoleon. This man is just a composer who is only 20 years old. "
18 15, Rossini became a full-time composer at the invitation of the famous San Carlo Theatre in Naples. The vagrant life is over, the post salary is rich, and the position is gradually stable.
18 16, the representative work of this professional composer, The Barber of Seville, came out. This work is regarded as the pinnacle of Italian opera.
From 65438 to 0822, Rossini began to travel abroad. In two years, he traveled all over Europe. Vienna, London and Paris all rushed to hold a grand welcoming ceremony for him, and his works were staged in theaters of all sizes. When Beethoven barely got a little reward for his Qin Ming, Schubert struggled in abject poverty and Berlioz struggled for a living, Rossini got an incredible sum of money! This incongruous contrast comes from a simple reason-the favor of Rossini and Italian operas by the royal families of various countries.
Rossini has lived in Paris since 1824.
1829, he composed the last opera William Tell in his life.
Some people say that the only meaning of Rossini's coming to this world is to constantly climb the peak of opera art, which makes sense. By the time he was 37 years old, the promising young composer had 38 operas, which were really fruitful and promising. The appearance of William Tell marks that the opera master has entered the heyday of perfection. However, inexplicably, young Rossini suddenly stopped writing and quit the music scene. He became famous easily at the age of 20, and swept the whole European continent at the age of 30, so famous that people almost forgot the existence of Beethoven and Schubert. His last opera was in his middle age. After that, he lived safely and healthily for nearly 40 years, but he is no longer a composer. This is a peculiar exception in the history of European music.
Some people think that this is because Rossini's life is leisurely and rich, which leads to the exhaustion of creative sources; Analysis shows that he faces Bei Lini (1801-1835, Italian opera composer) and Verdi (1813-1901,Italian opera composer). Some people say that after listening to "Protestants" by Meyer Bell (1791-kloc-0/864, a German opera composer) in 1936,1864 felt that it was futile to compete with such a composer (in fact, Meyer Bell was far inferior to Rossini), so he made up his mind not to compete with such a composer. Opinions vary, and no one can agree. However, there is no doubt that the opera master never wrote an opera again in his later life, which lasted for nearly 40 years.
Rossini is optimistic and open-minded, and his manners are humorous. His fellow friend Meyer Bell has a soft heart and always sympathizes with the sufferings of others with compassion. Rossini knows Meyebel's temper very well, so whenever he meets him, he keeps nagging about his troubles. Someone asked the master of traditional Chinese opera why he did this. He replied, "I'm not sick or ill. It's just that this person especially likes to sympathize with his relatives and friends, and I'm reluctant to meet his needs in this respect."
In Paris, Rossini lives in the same building as the French composer Bovadil, and Rossini lives upstairs. When one of Bovadir's works premiered successfully, Rossini came to Bovadir's home with many people from the music industry to congratulate him. Rossini spoke highly of this colleague who lives downstairs, and Bovadir felt ashamed. He whispered shyly, "Master, it's a shame for you to praise me like this! Your achievements are so profound ... you are much taller than me ... "Rossini immediately replied," No, no, dear friend, I am only above you when I go home to sleep at night. "
Rossini's humor is more intriguing when dealing with incompetent mediocrity. He has the habit of taking off his hat when he meets acquaintances. One day, a composer brought his new work to Rossini for evaluation. The composer speaks eloquently, boasting about how novel the idea of this song is, how beautiful the melody is, how deep the feelings are, and so on. Rossini couldn't help interrupting the guest's conversation: "You'd better play it for me first!" " So the composer began to play. Rossini took off his hat and put it on frequently while listening. The composer was puzzled: "Do you think the room is too hot?" Rossini replied: "No, I met too many' acquaintances' in your music!"
1848 One day, Rossini suddenly received a letter, which wrote: "I have a nephew who is a musician. He doesn't know how to write an opera overture. You wrote so many opera overtures. Can you give me some advice? " Rossini thought it was ridiculous, and he decided to give this gentleman a satisfactory answer. So Rossini's open letter to answer a gentleman's question appeared in a newspaper in Naples, in which there was a passage: "... when I wrote the overture to Othello, I was locked up in a hotel cabin in Naples by the theater owner, and there was a big bowl of boiled noodles on the table, not even a green vegetable." The boss is the baldest and heartless boss. He threatened that he would not get out alive until the last note of the overture was written. You might as well try this method on your nephew, and don't let him taste the charming fragrance of foie gras pie ... ".
Rossini is very lucky. Although he has long left his creative career, his reputation is enduring. This glory, which everyone envies, began in his youth and faithfully accompanied his life, and has not faded until today.
1868165438+1October 13. Rossini died in Paris at the age of 76.
Among Rossini's 38 operas, The Barber of Seville and William Tell are representative works. In addition, there are stealing magpies, Cinderella, Italian girls in Algiers, Moses, Othello and so on.