The Fondazione Rossini tells the story

From Siège de Corinthe to The Siege of Corinth (and back again).
Siège or Assedio? Moïse et Pharaon or Moses and Pharaoh? Guillaume or Guglielmo (not to mention Tell)? Why are Rossini’s operas performed in French rather than Italian in Pesaro, when the composer is Italian and we have heard them so many times in Italian? Marilyn Horne as Neocle, Nicola Rossi Lemeni as Moses, Luciano Pavarotti as Arnoldo – they have made singing history, as have many before them.

Let us begin by saying that Rossini conceived, devised and composed these operas (and in some cases, reworked them) based on French librettos (as did Verdi with Don Carlos). He had been living in France since 1824, immersed in the French language, and ended his days in Paris; within him, notes and words were one and the same. Whilst he initially sought guidance from native speakers, well before the time of Tell (1829; Le Siège de Corinthe dates from 1826) he had a firm grasp of every nuance of the French language. Then, of course, Rossini knew that his works would travel the world in Italian. Firstly, because there was a great demand for his operas in Italy; and secondly, because everywhere, from Rio de Janeiro to St Petersburg, people sang in Italian.

The practice was (and, in some respects, still is) more established than one might think: in Italy, right up until the end of the twentieth century, foreign operas – the few that existed – were strictly translated. Moreover, into verse. Yes, the verses. The poor translators not only had to translate the words so that they would fit beneath the notes, but also had to craft a poetic form that would ‘hold up’ when read aloud. Hence the lexical and metrical contortions they were forced to perform, with the inevitable result, moreover, of using awkward phrases in which the meaning of the words does not always correspond to the musical peaks.

For this reason, only by seeing Rossini’s works in their original language can one fully appreciate the richness of the composer’s creativity. It is hardly surprising that what was originally intended as a simple translation of Maometto secondo eventually became, with Le Siège de Corinthe, something entirely different. Even Rossini’s melodies take on a new character when subjected to a different system.

Language is thought: if we change the language, our thinking changes. In its critical editions, the Fondazione Rossini takes great care to adhere to the conventions of the language in which the opera is written, and the Rossini Opera Festival follows suit. Of course, there is no such thing as right or wrong, because we are all subject to history and changing customs. French has a system of pronunciation and stress that is very different from Italian; Italian singers, or those accustomed to singing in our language, were well aware of this and, in fact, preferred to avoid French in order to maintain clear enunciation of the vowels and a more natural (for them) delivery. In a fast-paced market such as the opera world, the audience was given what it wanted. We shouldn’t criticise them.

Nowadays, however, all singers are able to perform roles in two, three or more different languages, and there are specialists on hand to guide them in correct pronunciation. Theatres also use surtitles. All the necessary resources can be found online. Anyone who has mastered a foreign language knows how much joy it brings to move between different linguistic environments. Opera is alive because it speaks so many languages, from Czech to Russian, from German to English to Spanish – and the universal language of theatre. And together we feel twice as alive, and thanks to her.

Daniele Carnini

Published in : 22 April 2026