The Life of Rossini

Rossinis success in Italy in the early 1820s was certainly not echoed in France, where he was regarded as an ill-bred parvenu, whose cheap popularity was an insult to a great musical tradition. Stendhal was the first of his contemporaries to recognize the genius of this important Italian composer. Besides being a fascinating and penetrating account of the Italian composers most creative years, and of contemporary musical events and opinions, this work is one of the finest items in the Stendhalian literary canon. Details of Rossinis early life are followed by penetrating discussions of the operas, libretti, personalities of the period and Rossinis own character.