Dlf Kultur programme with Axel Körner & Barbara Babić
From the podcast "Lange Nacht" by Deutschlandfunk Kultur. Axel Körner & Barbara Babić talk about the great composer Gioachino Rossini with their respective expertise. They discuss his position in the musical and political culture of the Habsburg monarchy, his relationship with Chancellor Metternich and the rampant "Rossini fever" in Vienna around 1820. Both emphasise his role as a European - and therefore less than a purely Italian - phenomenon.
His energy was enormous: in 1812 alone, Gioachino Rossini composed six operas, rehearsed them and performed them three times. Why he suddenly stopped composing at the age of 37 remains a mystery to this day.
Rossini was more than just the composer of the opera "The Barber of Seville": The maestro from Pesaro created 39 operas and an extensive late work, which he ironically called "Old Age Sins".
Click HERE for the programme in the Dlf Audiothek.
