After last week’s somewhat minimalistic and more-than-somewhat monotonous piece, “Des canyons aux étoiles...” by Olivier Messiaen (HERE) – and don’t get me wrong, I’m not dissing all minimalist works for there are many that I love – but for this week I thought I’d listen to something a little more energetic and fun, and who is more energetic and fun that Gioachnio Rossini? And why not listen to something for bassoon since it’s known as the “clown of the orchestra”? So that’s how I landed on this piece for this week, and I’ve listened a few times – and I have to admit, I was hoping I’d find a piece I’d love – but that was not the case.
Again, don’t get me wrong – I did enjoy the piece. But for some reason, I thought that adding together “Rossini” and “bassoon” would equal something completely jaunty and joyful, sprightly and spirited. Well, it is upbeat when it’s meant to be, though not rollicking, and it was moderate when appropriate, though not lofty, but I just didn’t fall in love with piece. Perhaps I could say I fell in like with it? And then I found this information (HERE): “The story goes that Rossini had written the work for Nazareno Gatti, a bassoon student, for his final examination. Rossini was an advisor at the music school in Bologna where Gatti attended, but scholars aren’t sure how much Rossini was involved with writing the concerto. He may have sketched it out for someone else to finish, as he did with many of his compositions during his retirement. Some say Gatti finished it, or Gatti may have written the entire work and put Rossini’s name to it. In any event, scholars agree it was written in the 1840s and in the style of Rossini.” Hmm…so maybe that’s the problem – maybe this concerto wasn’t actually written by Rossini? Still, it is an enjoyable piece to listen to, and I did like it. I just didn’t love it.
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A New Hope:As the header above says, each week I will listen to a piece of classical music that I've never heard before, and then I will report out what I thought about it. Archives
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