Fine large portrait lithograph after a drawing by Louis Dupré.
Milano: Francesco Lucca, [1850].
Image size ca. 325 x 255 mm, sheet size 465 x 336 mm. Lithograph on heavyweight wove paper. Bust length; oval, within elaborate colored border with lozenge incorporating Rossini's name at lower center, imprint of Lucca and foreign partners below.
From the collection of the distinguished American mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne (b. 1934).
Slightly worn; a few small tears to edges; light granular texture to portions of paper, not affecting image; very small pinhole to upper border; small tape repair to verso.
An attractive example.
Arrigoni & Bertarelli 3875. Müller: Hommage an Rossini, p. 68, 40.
This image also appeared, in a much smaller format, as the frontispiece to Lucca's publication "Tre nuove melodie" (1850).
"No composer in the first half of the 19th century enjoyed the measure of prestige, wealth, popular acclaim or artistic influence that belonged to Rossini. His contemporaries recognized him as the greatest Italian composer of his time. His achievements cast into oblivion the operatic world of Cimarosa and Paisiello, creating new standards against which other composers were to be judged. That both Bellini and Donizetti carved out personal styles is undeniable; but they worked under Rossini's shadow, and their artistic personalities emerged in confrontation with his operas. Not until the advent of Verdi was Rossini replaced at the centre of Italian operatic life." Philip Gossett in Grove Music Online.
French painter Louis Dupré (1789-1837) made two drawings of Rossini, one in 1819 and the second in 1836, both serving as models for numerous engravings and lithographs of the composer.
"Horne had a voice of extraordinary range, rich and tangy in timbre, with a stentorian chest register and an exciting top... In concert she once achieved the feat of singing in a single programme Rossini arias and Brünnhilde’s Immolation Scene, proof of her exceptional versatility. Throughout her lengthy career she was an admired recitalist, singing lieder, mélodies, Spanish and American songs with equal aplomb." Alan Blyth in Grove Music Online.
Item #31477
Price: $600.00 other currencies