Gioachino Rossini – opera composer

The amazing talent of composer Rossini

Étienne Carjat's 1865 photographic portrait
of Gioachino Rossini

One of Italy’s most prolific composers, Gioachino Rossini, was born on this day in 1792 in Pesaro in Le Marche.

He wrote 39 operas as well as sacred music, songs and instrumental music. He is perhaps best remembered for, The Barber of Seville (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), and Cinderella (La Cerenterola).

Rossini was born into a musical family and during his early years his father played the trumpet in bands and his mother earned her living singing at theatres in the area.

He quickly developed musical talent of his own and made his first appearance on stage as a singer in 1805 before settling down to learn several musical instruments and become an accompanist and then a conductor.

Rossini’s first opera, The Marriage Contract (La Cambiale di Matrimonio), was staged in Venice when he was just 18.

In 1813 his operas, Tancredi and L’Italiana in Algeri, were big successes and he found himself famous at the age of 20.

Listen to the overture from Rossini's opera William Tell, as performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra

The Barber of Seville was first produced in Rome in 1816 and went on to be so successful that it is claimed even Beethoven wrote to congratulate Rossini on it.

The composer became wealthy and in big demand and travelled to Austria , France and England. In 1824 he accepted the post of musical director at a theatre in Paris and wrote Guillaume Tell (William Tell) during his time there.

Rossini came back to live quietly in Italy for about ten years, but returned to France in 1855, where he died at the age of 76 from pneumonia at his country house in Passy.

He was initially buried in Paris but because of his enormous popularity in Italy, his remains were moved to the Basilica di Santa Croce in Florence at the request of the Italian Government in 1887.

Travel tip:

Pesaro is a beautiful, traditional seaside resort on the Adriatic coast renowned for its sandy beach. Rossini’s birthplace, at Via Rossini 34, is now a museum dedicated to the composer and there is also a theatre named after him. A Rossini opera festival is held in Pesaro every summer.

The Teatro Argentina in Rome, where Rossini's
Barber of Seville premiered in 1816

Travel tip:

The premiere of Rossini’s famous opera, The Barber of Seville, was held at Teatro Argentina in Rome in February 1816. It was jeered by the supporters of a rival composer on the first night but the second performance was a success and the opera quickly became popular in England and America. It has been regularly performed over the last 200 years and remains a favourite with both singers and audiences. Teatro Argentina, in Largo di Torre Argentina in the centre of Rome, was built in 1731 over the spot where Julius Caesar was assassinated.

More reading:

How advice from Gigli prolonged soprano's career

Enrico Caruso: the greatest tenor of all time

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Dino Zoff – footballer

Long career of a record-breaking goalkeeper

Dino Zoff, back row, left, with the Italian national
team at the 1982 World Cup finals 

Dino Zoff, the oldest footballer to be part of a World Cup winning team, was born on this day in 1942.

Zoff was captain of the Italian national team in the final of the World Cup in Spain in 1982 at the age of 40 years, four months and 13 days.

He also won the award for best goalkeeper of the tournament, in which he kept two clean sheets and made a number of important saves.

Zoff was born in Mariano del Friuli in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. He had trials with Inter-Milan and Juventus at the age of 14 but was rejected because of his lack of height.

Having grown considerably, he made his Seria A debut with Udinese in 1961. He then moved to Mantua, where he spent four seasons, and Napoli, where he spent five seasons.

Zoff made his international debut during Euro 68 and was number two goalkeeper in the 1970 World Cup.  From 1972 onwards he was Italy’s number one goalkeeper.

He signed for Juventus in 1972 and during his 11 years with the club won the Serie A championship six times, the Coppa Italia twice and the UEFA Cup once.

Zoff (left), with teammate Franco Causio and team coach Enzo
 Bearzot (smoking pipe), accompanying Italy's state  president,
Sandro Pertini, as they fly back to Italy with the 1982 World Cup 

When Zoff retired he held the record for being the oldest Serie A player at the age of 41 and for the most Serie A appearances, having played 570 matches.

He was head coach at Juventus and Lazio, winning the UEFA Cup and the Coppa Italia with the former, and was then appointed to lead the Italian national team. He coached a young squad to finish second in Euro 2000 and was voted World Soccer Manager of the Year.

He was named the third greatest goalkeeper of the 20th century by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics, behind Lev Yashin and Gordon Banks.

In 2014, Zoff published his autobiography Dura Solo un Attimo la Gloria, 'Glory Lasts Only a Moment'.

The Chiesa di San Gottardo is the
parish church of Mariano del Friuli

Travel tip:

Mariano del Friuli, where Dino Zoff was born, is a small town to the west of Gorizia in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, about 30km (19 miles) southeast of Udine and close to the medieval town of Cormons and the border with Slovenia. Many residents still speak friulano goriziano, a variant of the Friulian dialect, alongside modern Italian. The town's parish church, the 19th century Chiesa di San Gottardo, has an altarpiece painted by the Gorizia painter Giuseppe Tominz.

The Juventus Stadium in Turin
Photo: Juve2015 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Travel tip:

Juventus stadium is in Corso Galileo Ferraris in Turin. To visit the club’s museum and tour the stadium, even getting the chance to look inside the dressing rooms, you can book a ticket at www.juventus.com 



More reading:

Gianluigi Buffon: Record-breaking goalkeeper still at top

Toto Schillaci: Italy's 1990 World Cup hero

How Enzo Bearzot plotted Italy's 1982 World Cup triumph

Also on this day:

1915: The birth of businessman Karl Zuegg, famous for jams and juices

1940: The birth of racing driver Mario Andretti

Selected books:

The Story of the World Cup, by Brian Glanville

(Picture credits: Chiesa di San Gottardo by Marchetto da Trieste; Juventus Stadium by Juve2015; via Wikimedia Commons)


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Mirella Freni – opera singer

Good advice from Gigli helped soprano have long career

Mirella Freni, pictured in 1970

Singer Mirella Freni was born Mirella Fregni on this day in 1935 in Modena in Emilia-Romagna .

Freni’s grandmother, Valentina Bartolomasi, had been a leading soprano in Italy from 1910 until 1927, specialising in Wagner roles. By coincidence, her mother worked alongside the mother of tenor Luciano Pavarotti in a tobacco factory in Modena.

Freni was obviously musically gifted and sang an opera aria in a radio competition when she was just ten years old.

One of the judges was the tenor Beniamino Gigli, who advised her to give up singing until she was older to protect her voice.

Freni took his advice and resumed singing when she was 17, making her operatic debut at the Teatro Municipale in Modena at the age of 20 in Bizet’s Carmen.

Her international debut came at Glyndebourne in Franco Zeffirelli’s staging of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore.

In the 1960 season at Glyndebourne she sang comic roles from Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni.

Listen to Mirella Freni performing "Un bel di vedremo" from Madame Butterfly

Freni made her Covent Garden debut in 1961, her La Scala debut in 1963 and her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1965.

She started singing the heavier Verdi roles in the 1970s but she always refused roles for which she thought she was unsuited, or that might overtax her voice, which contributed to her longevity as a singer.

The soprano starred in a 1975 film of Madame Butterfly opposite Placido Domingo.

In 1978 she married Nicolai Ghiaurov, a leading operatic bass. Together they established the Centro Universale del Bel Canto in Vignola, near Modena in 2002, where they began giving master classes. Freni continued this work after his death in 2004.

She celebrated her 50th anniversary on the operatic stage in 2005 at the age of 70 at the Met in New York before retiring.

Modena's 11th century Duomo

Travel tip:

Modena is an historic city in Emilia Romagna with a magnificent main square, Piazza Grande, which has an 11th century Duomo dedicated to San Geminiano, and is now a Unesco world heritage site. The city’s opera house was renamed Teatro Communale Luciano Pavarotti in 2007 after the great tenor. Modena is also famous for its balsamic vinegar, Aceto Balsamico di Modena.

Hotels in Modena from Booking.com



Travel Tip:

South of Modena is the city of Vignola, where Freni and Ghiaurov established their Centro Universale del Bel Canto. Famous for its cherry trees and the abundant fruit they produce, Vignola has one of the best preserved castles in the region, the Rocca di Vignola, founded in the eighth century but rebuilt and turned into a residence for a wealthy family in the 13th century. The city was also the birthplace of the brilliant architect Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola in 1507.

Stay in Vignola with Booking.com

More reading

Enrico Caruso: The voice of the great Caruso can still be heard

Renata Tebaldi: soprano with 'the voice of an angel'

Beniamino Gigli: one of the greatest tenors of the 20th century

Also on 27 February:

1950: The birth of fashion designer Franco Moschino

1964: Italy appeals for help with Leaning Tower of Pisa

1973: The birth of singer and actress Chiara Iezzi

1978: The birth of dancer Simone Di Pasquale

Books:

Understanding Italian Opera, by Tim Carter

(Picture credit: Modena Cathedral by Icco80 via Wikimedia Commons)

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Napoleon escapes from Elba

Emperor leaves idyllic island to face his Waterloo

The French painter Joseph Baume's 1836 picture of
Napoleon about to depart from Elba for mainland France

French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from the Italian island of Elba, where he had been living in exile, on this day in 1815.

Less than a year before, he had arrived in Elba, an island dotted with attractive hills and scenic bays, following his unconditional abdication from the throne of France.

Several countries had formed an alliance to fight Napoleon’s army and had chosen to send him to live in exile on the small Mediterranean island about 10km (6 miles) off the Tuscan coast.

They gave Napoleon sovereignty over the island and he was allowed to keep a small personal army to guard him. He soon set about developing the iron mines and brought in modern agricultural methods to improve the quality of life of the islanders.

But he began to be worried about being banished still further from France. He had heard through his supporters that the French Government were beginning to question having to pay him an annual salary.

Napoleon's country house on Elba, the Villa San Martino

He had also been told that many European ministers felt Elba was too close to France for comfort.

Napoleon also missed his wife, Marie-Louise, who he believed his captors were preventing from joining him, and he was worried about being moved again to somewhere even more remote.

On the evening of February 26, 1815 Napoleon and a few hundred loyal soldiers boarded small boats and sailed to a tiny fishing village near Cannes, from where they marched north to Paris.

Napoleon seized power again and governed for a period now referred to as 'The Hundred Days,' but his final defeat at the Battle of Waterloo was less than four months away.

The picturesque port of Portoferraio is the arrival
point for visitors to the island of Elba

Travel tip:

Elba is now a popular destination with holidaymakers who arrive by ferry at Portoferraio, which has an old port and a modern seafront with hotels. The west coast of the island has sandy beaches but the east coast is more rugged with high cliffs. Inland there are olive groves and vineyards producing Elba DOC. You can visit Napoleon’s two residences, Palazzina Naopleonica, a modest house built around two windmills in Portoferraio and Villa San Martino, his country house, which is further inland at San Martino and is decorated inside with Egyptian-style frescoes.

Hotels in Portoferraio from Booking.com

The port of Piombino, the nearest mainland town to Elba

Travel tip:

Piombino is the point on the mainland closest to Elba, from where ferries run back and forth at frequent intervals during the day. The town is on the end of the Masoncello peninsula between the Ligurian and Tyrennian seas. It has an historic centre dating back to when it was a port used by the Etruscans. The main Etruscan city in the area, Populonia, is now a frazione (hamlet) of Piombino. It still has some Etruscan ruins to see and the Museo Etrusco Gasparri, which has important bronze and terracotta works.

More reading:

Napoleon becomes King of Italy

Napoleon's troops defeat the Austrians at the Battle of Marengo

Joachim Murat executed by firing squad

Also on this day:

1921: The birth of Milan architect Angelo Mangiarotti 

1943: The birth of Oscar-winning set designer Dante Ferretti

Selected books:

The Invisible Emperor: Napoleon on Elba, by Mark Braude

Napoleon: A Life, by Adam Zamoyski

(Picture credits: Napoleon's house by Furukama; Portoferraio by Ferpint; Piombino by Sailko; via Wikimedia Commons)

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