''Rossiniana'', P. 148, is a 1925 orchestral suite by
Ottorino Respighi
Ottorino Respighi ( , , ; 9 July 187918 April 1936) was an Italian composer, violinist, teacher, and musicologist and one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. List of compositions by Ottorino Respighi, His compositions r ...
, based on four piano pieces by
Gioachino Rossini
Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...
.
Respighi had written the ballet ''
La Boutique fantasque
''La Boutique fantasque'', also known as ''The Magic Toyshop'' or ''The Fantastic Toyshop'', is a ballet in one act conceived by Léonide Massine, who devised the choreography for a libretto written with the artist André Derain, a pioneer of Fa ...
'' for
Léonide Massine
Leonid Fyodorovich Myasin (russian: Леони́д Фёдорович Мя́син), better known in the West by the French transliteration as Léonide Massine (15 March 1979), was a Russian choreographer and ballet dancer. Massine created the wo ...
in 1919, basing it on short piano pieces from Rossini's collection ''
Péchés de vieillesse'' (''Sins of Old Age''). In 1925, he returned to Rossini's music, but not as a ballet, simply as concert music.
[Classical Archives]
/ref> He again used ''Sins of Old Age'', specifically ''Quelques riens'' (''Various nothings'') from Volume XII, and applied what he called a ''trascrizione libera'' (free transcription) to them.
The four movements are:
* "Capri e Taormina (Barcarola e Siciliana)"
* "Lamento"
* "Intermezzo"
* "Tarantella 'puro sangue' (con passaggio de la Processione)”.[
The scoring is brilliant, but also dark and evocative. Although not written for ballet, ''Rossiniana'' is eminently suitable for use in ballet. It has been choreographed, and the music has been recorded as "Rossiniana (ballet music)".]
/ref> It has also received other recordings without any reference to ballet.
References
External links
The Guardian, 8 December 2006
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Compositions by Ottorino Respighi
Orchestral suites
Compositions for symphony orchestra
1925 compositions
Composer tributes (classical music)
Arrangements of classical compositions
Gioachino Rossini