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Domenico Cosselli (27 May 1801 in 
He began his vocal studies in his native city in 1814 and made his stage debut there in 1821. He quickly made a specialty of Rossini roles, singing in ''
''Donizetti and His Operas''
Cambridge University Press, 1983, pp. 376. 1801 births 1855 deaths 19th-century Italian male opera singers Operatic bass-baritones Musicians from Parma {{Italy-opera-singer-stub
Parma
Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...
– 9 November 1855 in Parma) was an Italian operatic bass-baritone, particularly associated with Rossini operas.
He began his vocal studies in his native city in 1814 and made his stage debut there in 1821. He quickly made a specialty of Rossini roles, singing in ''Il barbiere di Siviglia
''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an ''opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based ...
'', ''Tancredi
''Tancredi'' is a ''melodramma eroico'' ('' opera seria'' or heroic opera) in two acts by composer Gioachino Rossini and librettist Gaetano Rossi (who was also to write '' Semiramide'' ten years later), based on Voltaire's play ''Tancrède'' (17 ...
'', ''La cenerentola
' ('' Cinderella, or Goodness Triumphant'') is an operatic ''dramma giocoso'' in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the libretti written by Charles-Guillaume Étienne for the opera ''Cendrillon'' ...
'', ''La gazza ladra
''La gazza ladra'' (, ''The Thieving Magpie'') is a ''melodramma'' or opera semiseria in two acts by Gioachino Rossini, with a libretto by Giovanni Gherardini based on ''La pie voleuse'' by Théodore Baudouin d'Aubigny and Louis-Charles Caig ...
'', ''Semiramide
''Semiramide'' () is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini.
The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on Voltaire's tragedy ''Semiramis'', which in turn was based on the legend of Semiramis of Assyria. The opera was first performed at La Feni ...
'', etc. He created for Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the ''bel canto'' opera style duri ...
the roles of Olivo in '' Olivo e Pasquale'' in 1827, and of Azzo in ''Parisina
''Parisina'' is a 586-line poem written by Lord Byron. It was probably written between 1812 and 1815, and published on 13 February 1816.
It is based on a story related by Edward Gibbon in his '' Miscellaneous Works'' (1796) about Niccolò III d ...
'' in 1833, also creating the role of Arnoldo in Pacini's '' Carlo di Borgogna'', in 1835.
Cosselli was one of the first singers to make the transition between the old conception of the bass vocal range to what we know today as the baritone, a voice type
A voice type is a group of voices with similar vocal ranges, capable of singing in a similar tessitura, and with similar vocal transition points ('' passaggi''). Voice classification is most strongly associated with European classical music, ...
that was still in its infancy. For Donizetti again, he created the role of Enrico in the highly successful ''Lucia di Lammermoor
''Lucia di Lammermoor'' () is a (tragic opera) in three acts by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian-language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's 1819 historical novel '' The Bride of Lammermoo ...
'', at the San Carlo in Naples, in 1835, giving to the role a new dramatic dimension, looking forward to what was to become known as the Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...
-baritone; the standard published score of Lucia contains several downward transpositions which mask the consistently high tessitura of the role as written for Cosselli.
He went on singing the florid bass roles of Rossini such as Mosè, Maometto, Assur
Aššur (; Sumerian: AN.ŠAR2KI, Assyrian cuneiform: ''Aš-šurKI'', "City of God Aššur"; syr, ܐܫܘܪ ''Āšūr''; Old Persian ''Aθur'', fa, آشور: ''Āšūr''; he, אַשּׁוּר, ', ar, اشور), also known as Ashur and Qal ...
, etc.
Sources
* ''Le guide de l'opéra'', Roland Mancini & Jean-Jacques Rouveroux, (Fayard, 1986) * Ashbrook, William''Donizetti and His Operas''
Cambridge University Press, 1983, pp. 376. 1801 births 1855 deaths 19th-century Italian male opera singers Operatic bass-baritones Musicians from Parma {{Italy-opera-singer-stub