''Rossiniana'', P. 148, is a 1925 orchestral suite by
Ottorino Respighi
Ottorino Respighi ( , , ; 9 July 187918 April 1936) was an Italian composer, violinist, teacher, and musicologist and one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. List of compositions by Ottorino Respighi, His compositions ra ...
, based on four piano pieces by
Gioachino Rossini
Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote man ...
.
Respighi had written the ballet ''
La Boutique fantasque'' for
Léonide Massine
Leonid Fyodorovich Myasin (), better known in the West by the French transliteration as Léonide Massine (15 March 1979), was a Russian choreographer and ballet dancer. Massine created the world's first symphonic ballet, ''Les Présages'', and ...
in 1919, basing it on short piano pieces from Rossini's collection ''
Péchés de vieillesse'' (''Sins of Old Age''). In 1925, he returned to Rossini's music, but not as a ballet, simply as concert music.
[Classical Archives]
/ref> He again used ''Sins of Old Age'', specifically ''Quelques riens'' (''Various nothings'') from Volume XII, and applied what he called a ''trascrizione libera'' (free transcription) to them.
The four movements are:
* "Capri e Taormina (Barcarola e Siciliana)"
* "Lamento"
* "Intermezzo"
* "Tarantella 'puro sangue' (con passaggio de la Processione)”.[
The scoring is brilliant, but also dark and evocative. Although not written for ballet, ''Rossiniana'' is eminently suitable for use in ballet. It has been choreographed.]
/ref>
References
External links
The Guardian, 8 December 2006
{{Authority control
Suites by Ottorino Respighi
Compositions for symphony orchestra
1925 compositions
Composer tributes (classical music)
Arrangements of compositions by Gioachino Rossini