Discovering Music - Rossini

Charles Hazlewood and the BBC Concert Orchestra are joined by mezzo-soprano Liora Grodnikaite for an exploration of some of the workings of Rossini's opera buffa - comic opera - style, focusing on The Italian Girl in Algiers. They explain and demonstrate operatic terms such as cavatina, cabaletta and cavata, as well as considering the impact that Rossini's ideas made on some of his contemporaries, examining Rossini's influence on Schubert's Overture in C (In the Italian Style). Gioacchino Rossini was one of the most successful composers of the first half of the 19th century. In particular, he became the foremost creator of comic opera, producing such masterpieces as The Barber of Seville, La Cenerentola and The Italian Girl in Algiers, providing mezzo-sopranos with some of their finest leading operatic roles.