#Rossini A.

[libriaco]

Enimma

Un enimma di Angelo Rossini (Galeno)

Sono grosso e rotondo appena nato, ma sono pure fragil per natura, e se a me stesso fossi abbandonato in breve toccherei grave iattura. A scongiurar però maligno fato altri mi veste con assidua cura, e di reggermi in piedi alfin m'è dato, cosa che mi negò madre natura. Più tardi m'empio il ventre, e alfin, diviso dal patrio suolo, in altri lidi porto de' toschi colli il genïal sorriso. Se v'è taluno mai cui non riesca di svelare l'enimma, o malaccorto, mi prenda qual blasone e non gl'incresca!

(oɔsɐıɟ lI)

Dedicato a MEC che prima o poi riuscirà ad andare a Montefiascone.

Angelo Rossini (Galeno), Manuale dell’enigmofilo [1895]. Seconda ediz., Roma, Tip. Naz. di G. Bertero e C., 1905

[Si vede, sì, che Galeno è l'anagramma di Angelo?]

Il libro del Rossini, su Archive, ha un ex libris dell’ing. Cesare Premazzi*:

E quindi? E quindi a domani, per una coincidenza.

(*) L'ing. Cesare Premazzi (1899-1980), mantovano, era un collezionista librario. La sua biblioteca, di circa 8000 volumi, costituisce un fondo a suo nome nella Biblioteca Teresiana di Mantova.  "Il fondo comprende una parte antica e una moderna. La prima si compone di 317 libri di cui 25 edizioni del XVI secolo, fra le quali 12 edizioni mantovane e 7 del XVII secolo: il volume più antico è stato pubblicato a Milano nel 1505 dal tipografo e umanista Alessandro Minuziano"... [Da: ArchivioDeiPossessori]

[gelphiegifs]

If there is one thing Brazilian gelphie is going to do is give each other a little kiss

Bonus: an almost kiss.

[adventuresofalgy]

The weather birds had told Algy that there was a great storm on its way to the wild west Highlands of Scotland, and that within a day or so the beautiful autumn leaves would all be gone, and very possibly some of the branches and trees too. They advised him to take cover in his assistants' garden, and to stay away from the shores of the mighty ocean, which was expected to whip itself up into a ferocious frenzy which could destroy a fluffy bird in a moment.

Such a forecast was not easy to believe on a fine October morning, when the wind was relatively calm and the sun burst through between the scattered showers of rain to illuminate all the colours of the fall in a most delightful way. It seemed to be a day for rest and quiet enjoyment of the season…

But long experience of west Highland weather cautioned Algy that such warnings should never be ignored. Preparing himself therefore to face the tempest that was coming, Algy felt even more determined to make the most of the last hurrah of the Scottish Highland autumn while he still could. It was quite definitely a day for singing so, leaning back among the radiant foliage of a large azalea bush, Algy opened his beak as wide as it would go and belted out at the top of his voice…

Figaro here, Figaro there, Figaro up, Figaro down, Swifter and swifter I'm like a spark: I'm the handyman of the city. Ah, bravo Figaro! Bravo, very good; Fortunately for you I will not fail. 😀

[Having a fluffy baritone voice, and feeling full of merry energy, Algy decided to sing the famous Largo al factotum from the beginning of Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville, but he has to admit that the late, great baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky … whose hair feathers Algy much admires as well as his tremendous voice – does make a rather better job of it…]

[detroitlib]

Portrait of soprano Reri Grist as Rosina in Rossini's opera, "The Barber of Seville." Printed on front: "Louis Melancon. Metropolitan Opera House, New York City." Louis Melancon, New York, N.Y." Label on back: "Metropolitan Opera Assn., Inc. Press Dept. Reri Grist as Rosina in Rossini's 'Il barbiere di Siviglia.'"

E. Azalia Hackley Collection of African Americans in the Performing Arts, Detroit Public Library

[issela-santina]

Rossini really said medieval history yuri and got ignored for centuries huh

[schweizercomics]

Hey, friends! Opera fella Alek Shrader is launching his kickstarter for the HOUSE OF BARTOLO (a classic horror movie aesthetic production of Rossini's BARBER OF SEVILLE) set that I got to design and do the art for; it's a 2 foot/60 cm-wide model of Bartolo's gothic villa, at roughly the 28mm (1/56) scale common to gaming.

You can follow the kickstarter campaign (no obligation) so that you'll be notified when it launches in mid-June.

The set comes with figures of the entire cast (each leaning into a classic horror movie type (Abrogio is a Frankenstein, the notary is an invisible man, Berta is a creepy nurse, Almaviva is a dracula but his disguises are a headless horseman, an opera phantom, that kind of thing, Figaro is a wolfman, etc).

It was a real joy to help make and I'll talk about it more at length in the coming weeks, but I'm told that Kickstarter campaigns tend to have better legs if folks are following them ahead of time, so I wanted to help Alek out by spreading the word. If you know anyone who might be keen on this sort of thing, I hope you'll steer them towards it!

[boringwomanwithabook]

MOMO-CHAN 😭😭😭😭😭

[feliscatussohn]

Romantic Composers and their resemblance to popular Chinese dishes

For Chinese speakers: original Chinese ver. under the cut

[clouds-of-wings]

I just realized that the "La calunnia..." aria from the Barber of Seville is actually totally irrelevant to the plot. Basilio has his big conniving villain speech and explains his plan only for Bartolo to immediately shoot the idea down and spend the rest of the opera trying to shoo Almaviva away like an annoying mosquito instead. Which means the aria is there purely because Rossini and Sterbini wanted it to be there. Whether it is because they were proud of their cool analysis of how slander works or because an opera is just only half as good if you don't have a villainous bass with a big dramatic aria where he explains how evil he is. I support it either way of course. In this time where film villains just aren't what they used to be, we need evil basses to fill that void more than ever.

[sgiandubh]

Sunday sounds: this is how it's done

This is for that stupid coo, the Sad Mythomaniac, who literally sees me everywhere. And especially where I am not and never have been.

Don Basilio's aria of Rossini's Barber of Seville is, perhaps, the best operatic description of calumny ever to have been written. It pictures perfectly how the most absurd libel can worm its way around unsuspecting minds. And how, most of all, as Beaumarchais famously once said, 'il en restera toujours quelque chose' (something will always remain).

And nobody, really nobody on this planet sang it better than Ruggero Raimondi. Here, in a very rare recording with Claudio Abbado, in Versailles' Théâtre de la Reine (1980):

[opera-shitpost]

Also belated, but here are the promised tumblr text posts ft. the three of Le Comte Ory!

[illustratus]

Maria Malibran as Desdemona in Rossini's Otello by Henri Decaisne

[cosmonautroger]

Arturo Toscanini, William Tell Overture, Gioachino Rossini, NBC Symphony Orchestra

[moncherelephant]

let's be happy..

Love With The Proper Stanger (1963)

[schweizercomics]

I just wrapped up the packaging art for Alek Shrader's spooky-themed Barber of Seville project HOUSE OF BARTOLO. Alek will be launching the kickstarter campaign next week.