CHAPTER XV.

END OF ROSSINI'S ITALIAN CAREER.

"La Donna del Lago" was Rossini's Italian "Tell" in more than one respect. As the composer was only twenty-seven years of age, and had not even begun to make his fortune when it was produced, he could not very well abandon musical composition merely on finding that his greatest work was not appreciated.

But he certainly felt hurt at the reception given to "La Donna del Lago" on its first production at Naples; and although he kept his secret (if there really was a secret) both in regard to this work and to "Guillaume Tell," the fact is patent that of his next five operas, the last he wrote for Italy, one ("Bianca il Faliero") was composed for Milan, one ("Matilda di Sabran") for Rome, one ("Zelmira") for Vienna, and one ("Semiramide") for Venice.

As to the fifth ("Maometto Secondo"), Rossini was already under an engagement to furnish it to Barbaja for the Carnival of 1830, when "La Donna del Lago" was brought out in October, 1819. But after the production of "Maometto Secondo" (which we shall meet with again under another title at Paris) he wrote nothing specially for Naples, except a farewell cantata called "La Riconoscenza," which was produced at his benefit, on the 27th of December, 1821.

The next day he quitted the city for which he had written eight operas, with "Otello," "Mosè," and "La Donna del Lago" among the number, went to Bologna, and there married Mademoiselle Isabella Colbran, who, in all Rossini's operas written for Naples, played the first part, and who was yet to appear as _Zelmira_ and as _Semiramide_.

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"But we are anticipating," as the novelists say. Before getting married, Rossini had other engagements to fulfil. "Bianca e Faliero" was produced at La Scala for the Carnival of 1820, without entire success. Nevertheless, thanks to a duet for female voices, and a quartet, which was so much liked that it was sung twice every evening (once in its proper place in the opera, once in the ballet), the opera attained a highly satisfactory number of representations.

"Maometto Secondo" was also written for the Carnival of 1820, and, as before mentioned, was the last work that Rossini wrote specially for the San Carlo. Galli made a great impression in the part of _Maometto_, and his air, "Sogete," was particularly applauded. The other singers were Mademoiselle Colbran, Mademoiselle Chaumel (the future wife of Rubini), Nozzare, Cicimarra, and Benedetti.

M. Azevedo tells us that the Duke Ventignano, who wrote the libretto of "Maometto Secondo," passed for a _jettatore_, and that, to avert the influence of the poet's "evil eye," Rossini took care to make the indispensable signs with his thumbs from time to time as he composed his music.

But Rossini's fate seems to have depended more upon political events than on the "evil eye" of individuals. The Revolution of 1830 affected his French career, and the Neapolitan Revolution of 1820 had doubtless quite as much to do with Rossini's departure from Naples as the cold reception of "La Donna del Lago." The republicans actually wished him to enter the national guard, and it is said that General Pepe did prevail upon him two or three times to wear a uniform.

The change in the political situation had a disastrous effect on the fortunes of Barbaja, who, to begin with, found himself deprived of his customary profits from the operatic gambling tables, which were suppressed.

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"Matilda di Sabran" was produced at Rome for the Carnival of 1821, not at the scene of Rossini's former triumph in the same capital, but at the "Apollo," a theatre directed by the banker Torlonia. This opera, revived in Paris some years ago with Madame Bosio, Madame Borghi-Mamo, and Signor Gassier in the principal characters, is scarcely known in England. It is remarkable among Rossini's works as the only one in which the chief female part is written for a high soprano. On the occasion of its first performance the admirers of Rossini and the partisans of the old school disputed, quarrelled, and ultimately fought outside the theatre with sticks, when it is satisfactory to know that the admirers of Rossini gained the day.

Paganini, happening to be in Rome when "Matilda di Sabran" was produced, offered to direct the orchestra at the three first performances, and did so with great success. Never, it is said, did the band of the "Apollo" play with so much spirit before.

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"Zelmira," composed for Vienna, was first produced at Naples. It will be remembered that the Italian theatre at Vienna, the San Carlo and Del Fondo theatre of Naples were all in the hands of the same manager. Mademoiselle Colbran, Mademoiselle Cecconi, Davide, Nozzare, and Benedetti were the singers, and the work was brought out in the middle of December, 1821.

Rossini was now on the point of leaving Naples altogether. A few days after the first representation of "Zelmira" he took a benefit, when a cantata, which he had written for the occasion, "La Riconoscenza," was executed, Rubini and the former Mademoiselle Chaumel, now Madame Rubini, being among the vocalists.

Mademoiselle Colbran did not sing at this interesting ceremony; she had to start early the next morning for Bologna, where a ceremony still more interesting required her presence. Rossini accompanied her, and the marriage took place in the palace of Cardinal Opizzoni, Archbishop of Bologna, who performed the service. Rossini's parents were present, together with Nozzare and Davide, the two inseparable tenors. Mademoiselle Colbran had saved a considerable sum of money, considering the difference between the earnings of an Italian prima donna fifty years ago and those of a European prima donna of the present day.

M. Azevedo assigns to Mademoiselle Colbran an income from property of four hundred a year; Stendhal, more generous, had given her eight hundred. She had at least, in the words of Zanolini, "a delicious villa and revenues in Sicily."

From Bologna, Rossini, his wife, and the two tenors went to Vienna, where the composer was received with enthusiasm, and what was more, no doubt, to his taste, with distinguished attention from the most illustrious persons in the capital. It is said that Rossini was handled roughly in the musical press, and that the names of Haydn and Mozart were invoked to his disadvantage. This, however, did not diminish his success with the public, who, going to the theatre to be pleased, came away delighted whenever one of Rossini's works had been performed.

Various accounts of Rossini's interview with Beethoven have been published. Beethoven had heard the "Barber of Seville," had been much pleased with it, and had thought still better of it on examining the score. However this may have been, Rossini knew and greatly admired Beethoven's work,[29] and he made a point of calling upon the great composer soon after his arrival in Vienna. The interview does not seem to have been a long one, nor, considering that Beethoven was in broken health and tormented by his malady of deafness, could it have been interesting on either side. It left a sad impression on Rossini, who appreciated Beethoven's genius.

The attacks with which Rossini was saluted on his first appearance at Vienna, as afterwards at Paris, did him more good than harm. They irritated his admirers, and called forth their enthusiasm. They also drew out some able replies. Carpani, the author of "Le Rossiniane," was at Vienna when Rossini arrived there to produce "Zelmira," and took up the pen valiantly on behalf of his idol.

Carpani was a good musician, and should not be held answerable for all Stendhal's remarks on music in the "Vie de Rossini," any more than he must be credited with the acute, delicate observations on literature, society, national peculiarities, &c., in which the book abounds. Carpani had the happiness to furnish Rossini with the words of an air which he added to "Zelmira" for Mademoiselle Eckerlin, who undertook the contralto part when the opera was brought out at Vienna. He was present at a great number of representations, and ended by writing an elaborate notice of the work.

"'Zelmira,'" he says, "is an opera in only two acts, which lasts nearly four hours, and does not appear long to any one, not even to the musicians of the orchestra, which is to say everything. In this extraordinary opera there are not two bars which can be said to be taken from any other work of Rossini. Far from working his habitual mine, the author exhibits a vein hitherto unattacked. It contains enough to furnish not one, but four operas. In this work Rossini, by the new riches which he draws from his prodigious imagination, is no longer the author of 'Otello,' 'Tancredi,' 'Zoraide,' and all his preceding works; he is another composer--new, agreeable, and fertile, as much as the first, but with more command of himself, more pure, more masterly, and, above all, more faithful to the interpretation of the words. The forms of style employed in this opera, according to circumstances, are so varied, that now we seem to hear Gluck, now Traetta, now Sacchini, now Mozart, now Handel; for the gravity, the learning, the naturalness, the suavity of their conceptions live and blossom again in 'Zelmira.' The transitions are learned, and inspired more by considerations of poetry and sense than by caprice and a mania for innovation. The vocal parts, always natural, never trivial, give expression to the words, without ceasing to be melodious. The great point is to preserve both. The instrumentation of Rossini is really incomparable by the vivacity and freedom of the manner, by the variety and justness of the colouring."

On the subject of Madame Rossini-Colbran's voice Carpani writes like a Neapolitan royalist. "She has," he says, "a very sweet, full, sonorous quality of voice, particularly in the middle and lower notes; a finished, pure, insinuating style. She has no outbursts, but a fine _portamento_, perfect intonation, and an accomplished method. The Graces seem to have watered with nectar each of her syllables, her _fioriture_, her _volate_, her shakes. She sings with one breath a series of semitones, extending to nearly two octaves, in a clear, pearly manner, and excels in all the other arts of singing. Her acting is noble and dignified, as becomes her imposing and majestic beauty."

As to the two tenors, Nozzare was "more a baritone than a tenor;" endowed with extraordinary power, and a great extent of voice.

Of Davide's singing, Carpani has a much better opinion than was formed by M. Bertin, the French critic, who, however, regarded Davide more from a dramatic than from a musical point of view. "He is," says the Italian writer, "the Moscheles, the Paganini of singing. Like these two despots of their instrument, he manages as he wishes a voice which is not perfect, but of great extent, and what he obtains from it is astonishing."

At the conclusion of the Vienna season, Rossini returned to Bologna, where, soon after his arrival, he received a letter from Prince Metternich, inviting him to come to Verona during the Congress. The minister pointed out that the object of the gathering being the re-establishment of general harmony, the presence of Rossini was indispensable. The composer accepted the argument, went to Verona, and wrote for the benefit of the Congress--into whose programme festivities entered largely--three cantatas, the most important of which was called "Il Vero Omaggio."

At Verona, Rossini was introduced to Chateaubriand, with whom he had a long and interesting conversation. Prince Metternich surrounded him with attentions, and the composer left Verona highly gratified with his visit. But for a colossal statue placed just above the orchestra, which shook with each musical vibration, and threatened to fall and crush the conductor, Rossini's happiness at Verona would have been without alloy.

Before going to Vienna, Rossini had engaged to compose an opera for Venice. He seems to have been determined to write no more for Italy, and being much pressed by the director of the Fenice, thought to settle the matter by asking an exorbitant price; but the enterprising manager was not to be checked. The demand of a sum equivalent to about two hundred pounds did not alarm him, and Rossini consented to furnish the opera.

In composing "Semiramide," the work destined for Venice, Rossini took his time.

"It is the only one of my Italian operas," he afterwards said, "that I was able to do a little at my ease; my contract gave me forty days, but," he added, "I was not forty days writing it."

The Austrian and Russian emperors after leaving Verona went to Venice, where they arrived just when Rossini was working at "Semiramide." Two concerts were given in honour of the illustrious visitors at the Imperial palace, under Rossini's direction. While the second concert was going on, the two emperors, accompanied by Prince Metternich, asked the maestro to sing, when he executed with Galli the duet from "Cenerentola," to which he added _Figaro's_ air from the "Barber."

The first representation of "Semiramide" took place at the Fenice Theatre on the 3rd of February, 1823, just ten years after the production of his first great opera seria, "Tancredi," which was played for the first time about the middle of the Carnival of 1813.

Madame Rossini-Colbran sustained the part of _Semiramide_, Madame Mariani that of _Arsace_, Galli was _Assur_, Mariani, _Oroe_, and the English tenor, Sinclair, _Idreno_. Of the two airs written for the tenor, one only has been preserved. The other, like the trio of the music lesson in the "Barber of Seville," is said to have been lost through the fault of the copyist.

If "Semiramide" does not, like "Otello," "Mosè," and "La Donna del Lago," present any novelty of treatment, it reproduces all the features which were new in those three works. There is a leading part for the bass voice; a secondary part, but one of great importance, for the contralto (_Arsace_ is a lineal descendant of _Pippo_, the first of the family); the chorus takes an active part in the drama; the recitative is accompanied by the orchestra; there is a military band on the stage; and there is a scene in which the chorus, the military band, and the theatrical orchestra are heard in combination. These innovations are once more specified to remind the reader of the progress Rossini had made as a dramatic composer since his first Venetian opera of "Tancredi."

"Semiramide," too, is as superior to "Tancredi" in vigour of style, in richness of colouring, as in definable operatic forms.

This, the last of Rossini's Italian operas, cannot have been imperfectly executed; Rossini had plenty of time for superintending the rehearsals, and his singers were all admirable. Nevertheless the opera was not much liked. It was conceived on too grand a scale, and Stendhal, apparently by reason of the importance assigned to the orchestra, came to the conclusion that it was written in the German style.

M. Castil-Blaze fancies Rossini knew beforehand that "Semiramide" would not be appreciated, and that the piccolo in the accompaniment of _Assur's_ air meant hisses for the Venetian public.

M. Azevedo points out that to please the Venetians, Rossini had introduced the melody of the Carnival of Venice in the duet "Ebben ferisce;" but neither instrumental hisses nor vocal compliments were of any avail. The public did not by any means condemn "Semiramide," but they found it rather heavy, and allowed it to fall. These instances of bad taste are constantly occurring in the history of music.

Indeed, as to pure melody, who is to be the judge? Stendhal, the man of taste, considers _Almaviva's_ cavatina in the "Barber of Seville" rather common; and M. Fétis, who is a learned musician, does not think much of _Matilde's_ air in "Guillaume Tell."

In any case, the Venetians found "Semiramide" uninteresting--"Semiramide," which is full of beauty from beginning to end; and Rossini had now one more motive for deciding to leave Italy and try his fortune--that is to say, make his fortune--in France and England.