rossini and authenticity

8/11/2019 Rossini and Authenticity

1/6

Rossini and AuthenticityAuthor(s): Philip GossettSource: The Musical Times, Vol. 109, No. 1509 (Nov., 1968), pp. 1006-1010Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/952107.

Accessed: 17/04/2014 10:06

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at.http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Musical Times Publications Ltd.is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The

Musical Times.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 83.244.189.222 on Thu, 17 Apr 2014 10:06:57 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=mtplhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/952107?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/952107?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=mtpl


2/6

Rossini

and

Authenticity

Philip

Gossett

WhenGioachinoRossinidied 100years go, on

November

3, 1868,

he

eft world hat

onsidered

him remnantf

imes

ast.

Whateverhe

ause,

e

it

sickness,

dissatisfaction

ith

contemporary

artistic

endencies,

r

laziness,

Rossini

effectively

lived

n

semi-retirementrom 829until

is

death.

He

composed

othing

or

he

tage

fter

uillaume

Tell,

and

practically

othing

t

all

until

he

ast

decade

fhis

ife. His

operas, part

rom

I

barbiere

di

Siviglia,

were

n

little

emand;

his

musical tti-

tudes, xpressed

penly

to

correspondents,

ere

frankly

pposed

o

the

Wagnerian

deals

weeping

even

taly.

The

20th

entury

as

rediscoveredossini

uthas

scarcely egun o understandheartistic nviron-

ment

n which e

flourished. odern

udiences re

usually

ffered ersions

verladen

with

perform-

ance

traditions'-cuts,ubstitutions,

nd

alterations

of vocal

lines which

have

been

elevated,

n

our

fossilized

pera houses,

o the

statusof

dogma.

Most such

performance

raditions

re

unauthentic,

originally

ntroduced

erhaps

o fill

pecific

eeds,

and

pointlessly

erpetrated

n

generations

f un-

suspecting

pectators

nd innocent

erformers.

o

take a case whichhas been

corrected,

or

years

Bartolo's

rilliantria A

undottor'

romIbarbiere

was

traditionallyeplaced y

another,

Manca un

foglio'.

Written

y

Pietro omani or

revivalt the

Teatrodi Via PergolanFlorence nautumn 816,

'Manca

un

foglio'

ccurs

n

several

rinted

ditions

withouteferenceo

ts

rue

rigin.

Wecannot now

recisely

hat

rompted

omani

to

replace

he

riginal

ria,

but

comparison

f

the

two s

suggestive.

ossini's

omposition

akes e-

mands

n the

performerubstantially

ifferentrom

Romani's. The baritone

inging

A un dottor'must

have

complete

ontrol

f

the

range

rom

b

to

f'

an octave

nd a half

bove;

for

Manca

un

foglio'

he

needdescend

nly

o

eb. Furthermore,

he

atter

style

f

the

Allegro

ivace

n

Rossini's ria

requires

excellent

iction;

Romani's

is

rhythmically

ess

demanding.

The role

of

Bartolowas

originallywrittenorBartolomeootticelli,hilenFlorence

the

singer

was Paolo Rosich.

Rosich,

who

had

created Taddeo

in

Rossini's

L'italiana

in

Algeri

three

ears

arlier,

ad

a more imited

ocal

range

thanBotticelli.

othwere

omfortable

p tof',

but

only

Botticelli

ould

descend

with

ase to an

octave

and

a halfbelow.

IndeedBotticelli

ang

not

only

Taddeo

n

L'italiana

Milan, 814),

ut lso

Mustafa

(Parma,

1819),

a role

demanding

significantly

lower

tessitura. Rosich's

deficiencies

xplain

he

Florentineubstitution

ut

hardly

ustify

he

perpe-

tuation f

this

performance

radition'ormost f

the

19th

nd

part

of

the

20th

centuries. Even

singers

ble to

negotiate

he

original

ria

were

effectivelyequiredosingRomani's learlynferior

music.

This s notto

mply

hatwemust

weep way

ll

traditionsnd rediscoverhe true' textsof the

Rossini

peras.

The

problem

s

muchmore om-

plex,

nd involves

re-evaluationf our

attitudes

towards extual riticism. irst

nd

foremost,

he

term authentic'must

be understood: define n

authentic

ersion

f

an

opera by

Rossini s

any

versionwith

whichRossiniwas

directly

onnected

as

composer,

irector,

r

arranger.

his

oncept

ill

prove

more seful

n

considering

talian

pera

f

he

early

19th

century

han the usual

categories

f

original

r final

version. The notion f a final

version

ssumes

n

artistic

ommunity

n

which he

purpose

of revision

s

improvement,

n

some

absolute ense: whether r not we

agree

with

he

composer hathis finalword s best,we can be

relatively

ertain

hat

he

so

intended

t. For

com-

posers

of Italian

opera

in

this

period,

nd

for

Rossini n

particular,

his

assumption

s

simply

incorrect.

Almost

very

evival f n

opera

n

taly

nvolved

musical nd

textual

lterations,

ven

though

he

composer

arely

upervised

hem.

Changes ffecting

the

poem,

whether

n the

plot

or

only

n

specific

arias,

were

et forth

n

librettos

rintedocally

or

each revival

nd

preserving

hewords

ctually

ung

in

performance.?

uch lterations ere

rompted

y

various onsiderations.he

ndividual

equirements

of

he

ompany

ssembled ere

potent orce,

s we

have een bove.Thewhims f n mpresarior the

theatrical

abits ssociated

ith

city

ould lso

be

influential.

oman

udiences

ere

dverse

o

tragic

endings,

o the

oo-obliging

ossini

ntroducedn

eleventh-houreconciliation

n

theRoman evival

f

his

Otello

1820).

The

terpsichoreanequirements

f

the

Paris

Opera

were o embedded

n traditionhat

even

Wagner,

owever

rudgingly,

ad to submit

o

them;

Rossini

id ikewise

n his

French

eriod.

In this rtisticnvironment

hange

was a

process

more f

circumstance

han

f

creative

eed. This

s

not o

mply

hat

hange

s seldom or

he

etter,

ut

ratherhat t

s

not

necessarily

or he

better.

Given

a

Bartolo nable

o

ing

well

A

un

dottor',musicaldirector ust ecidewhethero lethimbutchert,

to

cut

t,

rto

replace

t

even

with

henon-authentic

'Manca un

foglio').

We

should

not

scorn

this

flexibility.iving

n

an

age

n

which he

work f rt

is often

egarded

s

an nviolable

ntity,

e

prefer

o

believe

hat

very

lement

s somehow

ecessary,

that evisionsremade

nly

n

order

o

bring

com-

position

loser

o ts

deal

form,

n

a Platonic

ense.

We

picture

eethoven

orking

hrough

series

f

sketches

o

reach or

nd,

often, inally

ttain

hat

perfection

hich

s

the

ompleted

ork f

rt.

This

viewhas coloured

ur attitudesowards

enres

nd

composers

orwhom

historically

nd

sociologically

it

s

inapplicable.

'I

have discussed this

general

problem

in

my

article 'Rossini's

Operas

and

their

Printed

Librettos,'

to be

published

in

the

pro-

ceedings

of the Tenth

Congress

of the IMS

(Ljubljana,

1967).

1006

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/6

Peter

Whitehead's

costume

design

for

Taddeo

in

the

new

Sadler's

Wells

production

f

'L'italiana'

An

examination

f

contemporary

ources,

mong

them

Rossini's wn

autograph

manuscripts,

ther

manuscript

opies, printed

ibrettos,

nd

early

printed

ditions,

eveals

hat

most f

the

omposer's

operas

xist

n several ersions

hich

ould

properly

be

called

authentic.

A few

revisions,

uch

as the

Roman

travesty

f

Otello,

he

Parisian ersions f

Maometto

Secondo

and Moss

in

Egitto,

and

the

Ferrarese evision f Tancredi, ave long been

known.

The

number f times

ossiniwas nvolved

with uch

revivals, owever,

as

never een

recog-

nized.

Not

all involve xtensive

ewriting.

ften

only

single

ew ria s introduced.

ut f

we

con-

sider

ow

many

uch

pieces

here

re,

mosthitherto

unknown,

ur

picture

fRossini's

peratic

ctivities

changes

markedly.

L'italiana

in

Algeri,

or

xample,

recentlyerformed

t

Sadler's

Wells,

was revised

y

Rossini

t least

three

eparate

imeswithin hree

years

of

its

premiere.

On

each

occasion,

besides

introducing

inor

hanges

nd

cuts,

he

composer

prepared

n additional

major

ria.

Examinationf

the evidence

ertaining

o theserevisions

ill

de-

monstrate ow suchknowledgean be extracted

from

ontemporary

ources.

L'italiana

had its

premiere

n Venice

at

the

Teatro

n

San Benedetto

n

May

22,

1813.

During

the

following

ummermost of

the

original

ast

travelled

o

Vicenza,

where

hey

erformed

he

pera

at theTeatro retenio.

There

s

no reason

o think

Rossini

ccompanied

he

roupe,

ut

new

ompo-

sition

y

him

ertainly

id.

In

the ibretto

rinted

in

Vicenza,

sabella's

cavatina Cruda sorte mor

tiranno'

n the irstct

s

replaced

y

scena

'Cesso

alfin a

tempesta')

nd

a

new

aria

('Cimentando

venti

l'onde').

n the

utograph

core f

L'italiana,

locatedn theRicordiArchivesnMilan, hisnewscenaand aria in Rossini'shand is found s an

appendix

t the lose f he econd

ct.

Interestingly

the

riginal

omposition,

Cruda

orte ',

ppears

n

its

correct

osition

ut

n the

hana

of

a

copyist.

Whether ossini

omposed

henew

ria

n time

or

Maria

Marcolini,

he

riginal

sabella,

o

perform

t

in

Venice,

r

whether,

s seems

more

ikely,

he

inserted

t

first

n

Vicenza,

here

ow existed

wo

authentic

ompositions

etween

which

any

local

Isabella

could

freely

hoose.

Many

early

ibrettos

contain he ubstituteria, ndamong ontempor-

ary

manuscript opies

'Cimentando venti e

l'onde'

s

clearly

referred,ppearing

n leven

f

he

manuscripts

have

xamined,

ompared

ith

ive

or

'Cruda orte '.

The next

year,

on

April

12,

L'italiana

in

Algeri

was

revived

t

the eatro

Re

in

Milan.

The

Milanese

correspondent

f

the

Leipzig

Allgemeine

usik-

alische

Zeitung2

eported

hat:

At

the

nd of

thefirst ct as

well

s

the econd

Act,

he

ingers,long

with

Mr

Rossini

who

by

chance

had

come to

the

opening

night),

were

calledforth.

Rossini's

resence

as

probably

ot

by

hance'.

He

was

n Milan

n December

6,

1813

or

he

remiere

of Aureliano n Palmira and again on August 14,

1814 for

l

turco

n

Italia.

Apart

from

his

appear-

ance t theTeatro

Re

on

April

2,

nothing

s

known

of his whereabouts

uring

he

first

alf f

the

year,

but

he

probably

pent

much

f

this

ime

n Milan.

He

had

participated

n

the

evival f

Tancredi

t

the

Teatro

Re in

December

f

1813,

nd one

of

the

changes

ound

n the

ibretto

rinted

or

his

per-

formanze f

L'italiana

t that heatre

urely

tems

directly

rom

he

omposer.

indoro's

avatina

Ah

come

l

cordi

giubilo'

was

replaced

y

nother

iece,

21814,

xvi,

col 451

Recentlyublished

ROSSINI

by

HerbertWeinstock

?5

'An admirable

iography

. .

will

probably

remain tandard or long ime.'

NewYorker

'Mr Weinstock as

caught

n his

netmost f

what

nyone

ould

possibly

want

to know.'

Times

Literary Supplement

Oxford

University

Press

MusicDepartment,4Conduit treetLondonW1

1007



4/6

whose

text

begins

Concedi,

mor

pietoso'.

The

music s

found n

Rossini's

utographmanuscript,

although

his

particular

election

s

not

n

Rossini's

hand.

The

inclusion f

Concedi,

mor

pietoso'

n the

autograph

core

ndicates hat

he

manuscript

tself

figured

n

this

evival.

Rossini

resumably

ad

re-

tained

t

after he

Venetian

remiere

nd

brought

t

with im oMilan. Thispartiallyxplainswhy he

manuscript

s

now

ocated

n the

Ricordi

Archives,

forGiovanni

icordiwas

responsible

t

this ime

or

most f

hemusic

opying

one

n Milan.

From

his

vantage oint

he

gradually

ntroducedlauses

nto

his

contracts

hich

ot

only

gave

him

publication

rights

or

he

music e

copied,

ut lso

secured im

rights

ver he

ctual

utograph anuscripts.3

Musically,

s

well,

t

is

highly

nlikely

nyone

other hanthe

composer

ould

have nserted his

piece,

for he

cabaletta

f

Concedi,

mor

pietoso'

was

ctually

orrowed

rom

n earlier

ossini om-

position,

Dolci

d'amor

arole'.

The

history

fthis

latter

iece

s

very omplex.

t

was

originally

he

entranceriafor ancredin the pera f hat ame,

butwas

rejected y

he reator f the

ole,

Adelaide

Malanotte-Montr6sor,

ven

before

he first

er-

formance.

n its

place

Rossini

omposed

Di tanti

palpiti', piece

whose ame

apidly

ecame

egend-

ary.

Rossini

arely

wasted musical dea

he

con-

sidered

orthwhile,owever,

nd o the abaletta

f

this

ria

was included n the

piece

added forthe

Milanese

evival

f

L'italiana.

Rossini's

resence

t

the

opening,

he

appearance

of

'Concedi,

amor

pietoso'

n

the

utograph

core,

nd the elf-borrow-

ing

evident

n this

composition,

ll

combine

o

justify

he

hypothesis

hat

Rossini

ersonally

dded

thenew

movement,

ven

though

he

autograph

s

lost. He

composed

he

first

art

new nd

adapted

the

econd

art

rom

heTancredi

abaletta.4

Soonafter,ossini egan heNeapolitan hase f

his

areer,

hich

as o ast

rom

he

utumn

f

1815

through

822.

He introduced

imself

o

Naples

with

both new

opera

nd revivals

f older nes.

The

Giornaledelle due

Sicilie of October

31,

1815 asserts

that

Rossini's

S.. Elisabetta

regina

d'Inghilterra

s

greeted

with

evermore

pplause

n the

tage

f San

Carlo,

where,

o the

lory

f

taly

nd to the

dmiration

of all

Europe,

he

great

omposers

f music's

most wonderful

poch

were

formed

nd nur-

tured.

And at theTeatro

dei Fiorentini,

hich

still

esounds

ith hemelodiousccents f the

imaginative

imarosa nd

of the tender nd

passionatePaisiello,his Italiana n Algeri is

greeted

imilarly].

There

s no direct

roof

that Rossini

personally

supervised

his

evival,

ut

s

none f

his

operas

ad

been

performed

n

Naples

before

his

arrival t

appears

uite

ikely

hat

e

would

havedirected

his

production

f

L'italiana.

Furthermore,

ne

of

the

revisions

ndicated

n the

printed

ibretto

nd con-

3The

story

of

Giovanni Ricordi's rise to

power

is told

by

Claudio

Sartori

n

his

Casa

Ricordi 808-1958

Milan,

1958).

4I

have discussed

his

omplex

f

pieces

n

greater

etail

n

my

articleGli

autografi

ossiniani

l Museo

Teatrale lla Scala

di

Milano',

in the

Bollettino

del

Centro

rossiniano di

studi

(1967),

Anno

(nuova

serie),

8-54,

5-8.

Afterhe uccessfVerdi arities'

B/SB6748CA

Miss

Caball6

owreveals ossini

n an

unsuspected

range

f

moods100

RCA

talianaOperaOrchestrandChorus

conducted

y

CarloFeliceCillario

La Donna del

Lago;

Tanti Affetti

n

Tal

Momento;

Otello:

O

Tu,

Del Mio

Dolor;

AssisaA'Pie D'un Salice;

Stabat

Mater:

Inflammatus

t

Accensus;

Armida:

D'Amore

al Dolce

Impero;

Tancredi:

O

Patria

olce;

Tu

Che Accendi

Questo

Core;

Di

Tanti

Palpiti;

L'Assedio di Corinto:

L'Ora Fatal S'Appressa;

Giusto

Ciel

In

Tal

Periglio.

1008

Rossini

arities

B6771



5/6

tained

n

contemporary

anuscript

eems

ertainly

to

have

ssued rom ossini's and.

Isabella's

second-act

ondo,

Pensa alla

Patria',

although

highly

uccessful

omposition,

ed

a

chequered

areer.

For an

1819

Romanrevival

he

first

ine

was

altered o

read

Pensa

alla

sposa',pre-

sumably thereby liminating

ubversive

atriotic

sentiments.his

may

r

may

nothavebeen

factor

inNaples,but nany vent herondowasreplaced

there

y

an

aria,

Sullo

stil

de'

viaggiatori'.

The

manuscript

ontaining

his

piece5

was

prepared,

appropriately,

n the

Copiesteria

e'

Teatro

de'

Fiorentini.

part

rom he ircumstantial

vidence,

theres internalvidence hatRossini

repared

his

new

omposition.

neof the hemes

sedto

ntro-

duce the abaletta

n the

econd

half

f

the ria

s

borrowed

irectly

rom

he

infoniaf

L'italiana.

t

seems

highly nlikely

hat

anyone

would have

taken

his

privilege

ith

Rossini'smusic nder

his

very

ose

except

Rossinihimself.

ncidents

f the

composer

orrowing

hemes rom n

overture

or

use

within

n

opera,

or

building

n

overturerom

themeslready resentnthe pera, oback t east

to Tancredi

1812).

Unlike

the

other wo

com-

positions

iscussed

bove,

Sullo stil

e'

viaggiatori'

never

pread

o other

pera

houses.

Additionalminor

hanges

were

ntroduced or

each

of

these evivals: ecitative

as

altered,

ntire

compositions

r

parts

f

compositions

ere

ut,

tc.

From

ll

these evisions

merges

fount f

uthentic

material

r

authentic ersions rom

which

per-

forming

ext ouldbe

adapted

o the

equirements

f

a

local

situation r the

preferences

f

given

per-

formers.

his s

precisely

he

way

uchmaterial

as

used

n

Rossini's

ime,

lthough

mpresarios

id

not

hesitate hen

to

adopt

non-authentic

s

well as

authenticlterations. ewmanuscriptsfthe ime

preserve

naltered

he

riginal

ersion

f

the

pera;

few

printed

ibrettos

o not

testify

o

the

iberties

taken

with t.

Excesses

xisted,

f

course,

nd

for

revivals

f

ertain

peras

s

many

s half

he

riginal

compositions

ere ltered

r

replaced

without he

composer's

onsent.While

ondemning

he

xces-

ses,

we would

e

misguided

o treat

ossini's

peras

with

reater

espect

han id the

omposer

imself.

Atthe eastwe hould

nderstand

hat

heres no

one

correct

ext

ormostRossini

peras.

The

best

ext

is

that

one, adapted

with

sensitivity

rom the

authentic

ersions,

hich est uits

he

equirements

of

a

specific

et

of

theatrical

onditions.

In definingn authenticersion f an opera,

nowhere sserted

hat

Rossini

himself

ecessarily

composed

ll

the

music

performed

n

authentic

versions fhis

operas.

t

has

ong

been

known hat

on

several

ccasions, ressed

or

time,

he asked

other

omposers

o

provide

music or

he

original

version f

an

opera.

One Luca

Agolini

wrote hree

compositions

or

he

riginal

ersion

f

La

Ceneren-

tola,

wo of which

'Vasto

teatro

6

l

mondo'

nd

'Sventurata

i

credea')

re found

n

every rinted

edition fthe

pera

lthough

t

s

commonly

nown

they

re

not

by

Rossini. Giovanni

Paciniwrote

several

compositions

orthe

original

ersion f

Matilde di

Shabran. Even

though

Rossini

later re-

placedPacini'smusicwith ew ompositionsf his

own,

ll

printed

ditions f the

opera

preserve

he

jMilan,

Bibl. del

Conservatorio

Verdi,

Noseda

1-86-1,

2

Rossini

Operas

L'Italiana in

Algeri

...a

most

delightful,

xhilarating

ssue..."

The Gramophone

with

Berganza,

Corena,

Alva,

Panerai,

Montarsolo

etc

and

the

chorus

nd

orchestra f

the

Maggio

Musicale

Fiorentino

conducted

by

Silvio

Varviso

O

SET 262-4

O

MET 262-4

Decca

11

Barbiere

di

Siviglia

with

Berganza,

Ausensi, Ghiaurov,

Benelli,

Corena

etc

and

the

Orchestrand

Chorus

Rossinidi

Napoli

conducted

y

Silvio

Varviso

0 SET

285-7

0

MET

285-7

Decca

La

Cenerentola

with

Simionato,

Benelli,

Bruscantini,

Montarsolo,

the

Chorus

nd

Orchestra f

the

Maggio

Musicale

Fiorentino

conducted

by

De

Fabritiis

O

SET

265-7

0

MET

265-7

Decca

Semiranmide

wvith

utherland,

Home, Serge,

Rouleau,

the Ambrosian

Opera

Chorus

and

the London

Symphony

Orchestra

conducted

by

Richard

Bonynge

O

SET

317-9

@MET

317-9

Decca

For

the

many

other

outstanding

recordings

of

opera

on

Decca

Group

Records

please

consult

your

dealer.

DmECC

tereo or

mono

records

The Decca

Record

Company

Limited

Decca

House

Albert

Embankment

London

SE1

1009



6/6

Pacini

pieces.

Rossini's

ave

goneunpublished.

This ist

ould

asily

e extended.

xaminationf

Rossini's

utograph

cores eveals

many

ieces

not

in

the

omposer's

and.

It

would

be

imprudent

o

suggest

hat

ll

such

pieces

were

robably

ot

om-

posed

by

Rossini.

Within

he

utograph anuscript

of L'italiana

found

n

the

Ricordi

Archives,

or

example,heduet Ai capricci ella orte' snot n

Rossini's and. But

he

utograph

f

his

articular

composition

oes

exist,

n

the collection

f

the

MuseoTeatrale

lla

Scala of

Milan.

Still,

n

many

instances

ieces

ot

n

Rossini's

and

n

n

autograph

score

may

wellnotbe hisown

ompositions.

one

of

the

ecco

recitative

n

theL'italiana

utograph

s

in

Rossini's

hand,

nd

it

seems lear hathe must

have asked

an

associate

o

compose

t.

Similarly,

Haly's

ria

Le

femmine

'Italia'

s

n the

hand

f a

copyist.

n

operas

or

which

ossini

efinitely

sed

collaborators,

he

pieces

for

econdary

haracters

were

enerally

ntrustedo esser

ands.

The

same

may

have

been rue ere.

Another xample s found n Adina, short

Rossinifarce

erformed

t

Oxford

n

the

English

BachFestival

his

ummer.

n

the

utograph

core f

Adina,

ocated

n

theFondazione

ossini

f

Pesaro,

several

ieces

renot n

the

omposer's

and. These

include

hree

rias

borrowed rom

n

earlier

pera,

Sigismondo,

s

well s

all

therecitativend

a

duet

('Se

non

m'odi,

mio

esoro').

The

duet s

not ound

in

a

neat

opy

but

notated

n what

eems

o

be

a

more rratic and.

t

appears

ikely

hat his

ection

of

he

manuscript

s

actually composing

core-but

obviously

otRossini's.Evenwithin

he

utograph

score

f I

barbiere,ontrary

o most

pinion,

here

are

passages

f

recitativeot

n

Rossini's

and nd

probably repared

or

he

opera by

someone

lse.

Still,uch assagesndcompositionsere pproved

by

he

omposer

nd o must econsidered

uthentic.

There s

scarcely

n

opera by

Rossininot beset

with

erious extual

roblems.

he xistence

f

hese

problems

s

just

now

being recognized

nd

ap-

proaches

o

them

re

being

worked ut. Editions f

Rossini's

operas

are

needed

containing

ll

the

authentic

aterial or

ach

opera.

Equally

mport-

ant,

those who

produce

hese

operas

must

resist

'performance

raditions'

n favour f

careful

ssess-

ment f their

ompanies

with

he

im

of

achieving

the most

satisfactory

erformance

ased on the

authenticmaterial.

Certain

practices,

ike the

omission

f

every

abaletta

epeat,

must

e

recog-

nized or he ravestiesfRossini's tyle heyre-

far

better

o cut an

entire

omposition,

s

Rossini

himself

id

on

many

ccasions,

han

rutally

o dis-

figure

lmost

very

iece

n an

opera. Only

with his

attitudean we

begin

o

approach

Rossini's

peras

withboth the

respect

ue to the foremost

talian

composer

f

the

irst alf f

he

9th

entury

nd the

irreverence

e

himself

howed o

hisworks.

Couperin

on

the

Harpsichord

WilfridMellers

Less

than 0

years go,Couperin

asconsidered

n

amiable

renchminiaturist.

oday

we

accept

him

as a

great

uropean

omposer;

nd this

hange

n

attitudes

nseparable

rom

change

nour

pproach

to the

performance

f

baroque

music.

We

have

learned

hat

authenticity

n

performance

s not

a

matter

f

antiquarian

nterest;

t

may

determine

whetherr

not

he

music ives or

s.

We havedis-

covered

hat

Handel's

oratorios re heroic

peras,

without

tage

ction,

n biblical

ubjects:

nd

that

their

mpact

s

greater,

ot

less,

f

they

re

per-

formed

with

baroque

rhetoric ather

han with

sanctimonioususterity.We have discoveredoo

that Bach's

cantatas nd Passions

paradoxically

sound more

powerful

hen

performed

y

small

forces,

n chamber-music

tyle,

with

ppropriate

ornamentation

nd

phrasing.

If

Bach and Handel

make

better

ensewhen

er-

formed

with

some

approach

to

authenticity,

Couperin

erformed

ithout istorical

wareness,

makes

lmost o sense

t

all:

and this

s not

imply

because

e s the ess universal'

omposer.

he sen-

sible

Dr

Burney-using

he

djective

n ts

modern

Englishmeaning-complained

hat

lthough

oup-

erin

was

a

fine

composer

he so crowded

nd

deformed is

piecesbybeats,

rills

nd shakes

hat

noplain otewas eft'. ut o he ensible

Couperin--

using

the

adjective

n

its French

meaning-these

graces

were neither

decorative'

nor

'inessential'

notes,

s

the

textbooks

o

misleadingly

all

them.

They

were ssentialnd

structural,

ecause

part

f

the

ine nd

harmony:ynonymous

ith he

races,

the

refinements,

f human

eeling.

his s

what

we

might

xpect:

or

ouperin

ived

n world

nwhich

the

most

rivial

oint

f

etiquette

ntailed eference

to

a

serious

ode ofvalues.

We

can

perhaps

est

pproach

he

roblem

f

he

graces

n

harpsichord

usic

yway

of

the elation-

ship

between

arpsichord

nd

ute.

n

the

arly

7th

century

he utewas the

upreme

nstrument

f

the

French alon:

nd the eason

s not

far o

seek.

The

lute's one-colours rarefiedndexquisite. hough

soft,

t

is

capable

of

an

infinite

ariety

f

nuance;

moreover,

incethe

strings

re

directly

nder

he

control

f he

layer's

ingers

which

re

the

ervants

of his

passionate

heart and

intelligent

ead)

it

speaks

withntimate

umanity.

hedissonant

obs,

the

ortamento

ighs,

he

azeof

ioriture

ith

which

the

composer-virtuosi

mbellished

heir

dance-

structures ere

not

designed

rimarily

o exhibit

technical

kill;

heir

urpose

as to

make he

nstru-

ment

peak

more

feelingly.

The

harpsichord

esembles

he

ute n

being

plucked

tring

nstrument.

t

differs

rom he

ute

n

that he

trings

re

plucked

ot

by

he

ingers,

ut

yquills peratedymechanicalacks. Inevitably,he

harpsichord

usted

he

ute

as solo

instrument

s

musicbecame

ess

intimate,

ore

the servant

f

1010


rossini and authenticity

Documents