''Rossini! Rossini!'' is a

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

Italian biographical film written and directed by Mario Monicelli. It depicts real life events of composer

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 ...

. Monicelli replaced Robert Altman, who was experiencing differences with the producers. The film won the David di Donatello for Best Costumes.

Plot

In 1868 the Italian composer

is already famous all over the country. However, his last opera ''

The Barber of Seville ''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 ...

'' is not understood and even booed by the audience at La Scala for the indecency of the sets and love situations. Also disappointed by the replicas at the

Teatro San Carlo The Real Teatro di San Carlo ("Royal Theatre of Saint Charles"), as originally named by the Bourbon monarchy but today known simply as the Teatro (di) San Carlo, is an opera house in Naples, Italy, connected to the Royal Palace and adjacent ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, then Rossini decides to move to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, where he is hailed as a genius.

Cast

* Sergio Castellitto as Young Rossini *

Philippe Noiret Philippe Noiret (; 1 October 1930 – 23 November 2006) was a French film actor. Life and career Noiret was born in Lille, France, the son of Lucy (Heirman) and Pierre Noiret, a clothing company representative. He was an indifferent student and ...

as Old Rossini * Giorgio Gaber as Domenico Barbaja *

Jacqueline Bisset Winifred Jacqueline Fraser Bisset ( ; born 13 September 1944) is a British actress. She began her film career in 1965 and first came to prominence in 1968 with roles in '' The Detective'', ''Bullitt'', and ''The Sweet Ride'', for which she rec ...

as Isabella Colbran * Assumpta Serna as Maria Marcolini *

Sabine Azéma Sabine Azéma (born 20 September 1949) is a French stage and film actress and director. Born in Paris, she graduated from the Paris Conservatory of Dramatic Arts. Career Her film career began in 1975. Azéma appeared in '' A Sunday in the ...

Olympe Pélissier Olympe Pélissier (9 May 1799 – 22 March 1878) was a French artists' model and courtesan and the second wife of the Italian composer Gioachino Rossini. She sat for Vernet for his painting of '' Judith and Holofernes''. Honoré de Balzac des ...

Galeazzo Benti Galeazzo Benti (6 August 1923 – 21 April 1993) was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1942 and 1991. Life and career Born Galeazzo Bentivoglio in Florence, Italy, a descendant of the Bentivoglio family, which ru ...

as La Rochefoucauld * Feodor Chaliapin Jr. as Baron Rothschild *

Claudio Gora Claudio Gora, '' Emilio Giordana '' (27 July 1913 – 13 March 1998) was an Italian actor and film director. He was particularly prolific, making some 155 appearances in film and television over nearly 60 years (from 1939 to 1997). In the 1950s ...

as Dr. Bardos *

Silvia Cohen Silvia Cohen (born 24 April 1959) is an Italian actress. Life and career Born in Paris into a family of Jewish origins, at young age Cohen moved with her family to Milan, where she studied acting at the Accademia dei Filodrammatici. She debut ...

as Marietta Alboni * Pia Velsi as Adina *

Maurizio Mattioli Maurizio Mattioli (born 3 June 1950) is an Italian actor and comedian. Life and career Born in Rome, Mattioli started his career in 1973, when he appeared in the RAI variety show ''Dove sta Zazà''. He got his first successes as a member of th ...

as Mimì *

Vittorio Gassman Vittorio Gassman (; born Gassmann; 1 September 1922 – 29 June 2000), popularly known as , was an Italian actor, director and screenwriter. He is considered one of the greatest Italian actors, whose career includes both important productions ...

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

( cameo)

References

External links

* 1991 films Films directed by Mario Monicelli Films about classical music and musicians Films about composers Films set in the 1810s Films set in 1868 Italian biographical films Gioachino Rossini Films with screenplays by Suso Cecchi d'Amico 1990s Italian-language films 1990s Italian films Cultural depictions of Italian men {{bio-film-stub