It has been exactly 150 years since Gioacchino Rossini, composer who wrote 39 operas as well as some sacred music, songs, chamber music, and piano pieces, passed away in 1868. For the occasion, the city of Pesaro, where he was born in 1792, is preparing to celebrate him with many initiatives. Among these, the opening of a dedicated museum that will occupy the main floor of the eighteenth-century Palazzo Montani Antaldi, headquarters of the Cassa di Risparmio di Pesaro Foundation. The museum will cover a total area of one thousand square meters, in a dozen rooms in the antique part of the building and other spaces in the modern wing.
Rossini, who wrote world renown operas such as ‘The Barber of Seville‘ (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), ‘The Italian Girl in Algiers’ (L’italiana in Algeri), and ‘Cinderella’ (La Cenerentola), was such a rapid and prolific composer, that he has been quoted as joking: “Give me the laundress’ bill and I will even set that to music.” Moreover, because of his tendency for inspired, song-like melodies, Rossini has been nicknamed ‘the Italian Mozart’.
Minister of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism (MiBAC) Dario Franceschini said that the celebrations for Rossini’s death anniversary will not only concern Pesaro. They will be great international events during which the figure of Rossini will be representing Italy in the world, promoting a sector, like the opera, which MiBAC consider very important to further encourage the appreciation of Italian art abroad, and also to attract international tourists. Franceschini also said that “Pesaro is now like Salzburg”, referring to the Austrian city birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, which already has two museums dedicated to the composer born there.
Ilona Catani Scarlett