The early reviewers of Rossini’s third commission, a comic opera, found his plot less than compelling. They liked the music even less and it seems the work would prove to be a rare failure for the promising 22-year-old. His successes had secured him exemption from military seivice when thousands of conscripted Italians prepared to lose their lives in Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow. More than 200 years later the same comic opera has received rapturous reviews and the acclaim of an enthusiastic audience. Bravo Gioachino, shame you missed it!
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