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Article: `Rossini' by Gaia Servadio; Carroll & Graf.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- April 30, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Frank Wilson
Gioacchino Rossini wrote his first opera, "Demetrio e Polibio,'' in 1806, when he was 14. He wrote his last, "William Tell,'' in 1829, when he was 37. In all, he composed 40 operas over a 23-year stretch, after which _ though he lived an additional 39 years _ he wrote nothing for public performance. He later told Wagner: "I felt a need to rest." Well, sure. But 39 years?
Conventional wisdom has long held that Rossini was fundamentally lazy and that as soon as he could afford not to work, he gave up working. The main problem with this lies in the improbability that a man who for a good quarter-century was a flat-out workaholic could ...