While opera remains the most acquired of the classical music tastes, opera overtures are pretty easy to digest. Some opera overtures are known to many who don’t consider themselves to be classical ...

I've always had a soft spot for Gioacchino Rossini's overtures. Their slow introductions and sprightly melodies invariably lead to a big crescendo passage, in which Rossini repeats a motif several ...

Trust me, you know the overture. If you’ve thrilled to thundering hooves, clouds of dust and the ringing “Hi-Yo, Silver!” of “The Lone Ranger,” watched Bugs Bunny’s “Overtures to Disaster” with Daffy ...

Rossini was famous for writing his operas at breakneck speed, and this one on the subject of Cinderella was no different. In order to meet the three-week deadline, he subcontracted the recitatives and ...

If you’re going to see one opera this year, hurry to catch Seattle Opera’s “The Barber of Seville.” This is a timeless comedy with soaring, gorgeous music played for laughs. The music is at once ...

After an incredibly successful career composing operas, Giachomo Rossini retired suddenly and early. Instead of creating music, it seems he turned his imaginative forces to food, hosting dinner ...

Peter Tregear is covering the role of Elmiro for Melbourne Opera. If you attend Rossini’s opera Otello (1813) expecting something close to the structure and poetry of Shakepeare’s original – as Lord ...