Rossini: La scala di seta (The silken ladder) – Sinfonia (1812)
Born in Pesaro, a few years either side of Weber and Schubert, Rossini was perhaps the most successful opera composer ever, up to his early retirement in 1829: following his 39th opera (William Tell), at the age of 38 (the same age at which Mendelssohn also stopped composing, in rather different circumstances….) he entered a period of near-silence comparable to that of Sibelius a century later, finally enabling him to indulge fully his passion for cooking and eating!
It might be interesting (and amusing) to read a strongly expressed opinion by an almost exact contemporary: “….Rossini’s melodious cynicism, his contempt for the traditions of dramatic expression, his perpetual repetition of one kind of cadence, his eternal puerile crescendo, and his crashing big drum, exasperated me to such a degree as to blind me to the sizzling qualities of his genius and the real beauties of his masterpiece, the Barbière, with its delicate instrumentation and no big drum.” And there’s no big drum in The Silken Ladder either! It says a great deal for the equilibrium of Hector Berlioz’s judgment (as expressed in his marvellous Memoirs) that he could recognise the qualities of a composer he inherently loathed – as much for his excessive popularity in Paris (at the expense of his own operatic heroes, Gluck and Spontini) as for his actual music. He might (grudgingly) have acknowledged the craftsmanship, the effortless melodiousness, and the effervescent sparkle of this brilliant overture – even if the “one kind of cadence” and “eternal puerile crescendo” (first established in this very piece) are as much to the fore as ever! But who would deny their effectiveness – and also the skill of the 20 year old composer’s instrumental writing, which players find sits easily and comfortably on their instruments (for the most part). The piece opens onto a farsa in one act, chock full of requisite fun and intrigue, first performed at the San Moise Theatre, Venice on 9 May 1812.
© Alan George
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