The Fondazione Rossini tells the story

ROSSINI, BEETHOVEN AND THE “OPERA BUFFA”

‘Ah! Rossini, are you the author of Il barbiere di Siviglia? I congratulate you; it is an excellent opera buffa; I read it with pleasure and enjoyed it very much. As long as Italian opera exists, it will be performed. Never try to do anything other than opera buffa; to desire success in another genre would be to force your destiny […] Opera seria is not in the nature of Italians’.These were the first words spoken by Ludwig van Beethoven to Gioachino Rossini in the spring of 1822 when the latter, during his stay in Vienna, wanted to visit his older colleague. The dialogue between the two composers is recounted in great detail by Edmond Michotte, Rossini’s friend and biographer from the early days, in the pamphlet Souvenirs personnels: la visite de R. Wagner à Rossini (Paris 1860). Détails inédits et commentaires, published in Paris in 1906. In this account, Beethoven’s words are put into the mouth of Rossini himself who, pressed by Richard Wagner, recalls in detail the conversation that took place years earlier.

The meeting between Beethoven and Rossini has always aroused interest and curiosity among musicologists and music lovers, so much so that there is no Rossini biography (literary or cinematographic) that does not mention it. In reality, from a careful analysis of the available historical sources, we are now able to demonstrate that it did not take place, either then or ever: in 1822, Rossini happened to meet the German composer’s brother, to whom he expressed his desire, which never came to fruition, to meet Ludwig. Nothing more. What Michotte – and others before and after him – recounted would therefore derive from one of the many imaginative stories circulated by Rossini himself in his later years, with the aim of presenting an image of himself that was different from the real one.

Today, after years of in-depth studies of Rossini, we can read Beethoven’s statement with a certain detachment: if Rossini was a champion of comic opera, no less important and significant for his career and the history of Italian opera was his contribution to the serious and heroic genre. It is now a shared and indisputable opinion that Rossini was not only a “comic” composer, but one who was versed in every genre and style, perfectly integrated into the spirit of his time and always able to interpret the dramatic mechanisms of his librettos, both serious and comic, in music. It is precisely this uncommon ability to “read” drama that made him such a versatile composer in all the operatic genres of the time. So, while today it would be difficult to agree entirely with Beethoven’s supposed judgement, Rossini’s contribution to the comic genre should certainly not be underestimated or overlooked. A concert such as the one scheduled for 28th February in Pesaro for Rossini’s “non-birthday” seems designed to bear witness to the greatness of the “comic Rossini”.

Andrea Malnati

 

Published in : 26 January 2026