Page 315 - Beholding Liberty!

HALL OF THE TROPHIES
II.8.Α.7
Gioachino Antonio Rossini
The Siege of Corinth, ca. 1826-1827
engraved musical score, 11 numbered pages, 32 × 25 cm
iscribed (title and signatures): Le Siège de Corinthe / Opéra en trois actes / Paroles de Messieurs A. SOUMET, de l’ Académie française / et BALOCHI / Musique de M.r / G. ROSSINI. / avec Acc.t de Piano ou Harpe par l’Auteur. / N.o 11 – Prix: 4•50 /
à PARIS chez E. TROUPENAS, Succ.r de Mad.e V.e NICOLO. / Editeur du Répertoir des Opéras français avec accompagnement
de Piano, rue de Memars. N.o 3. / Catalogue Thèmatique des Moracaux détaché. (top centre) // Gravé et imprimé chez Marquerie frères, rue S.t Honorè, N.o 45. (low centre)
Hellenic Parliament Art Collection, inv. n. 873
GIOACCHINO ANTONIO ROSSINI
(1792-1868) was undoubtedly the greatest phil- hellenic music composer; his Siege of Corinth was by far the most accomplished and most success- ful philhellenic music composition.
It is essentially a revision of his earlier opera Mao- metto Secondo, composed in 1820; the libretto by Cesare della Valle was reworked by Luigi Balocchi and Alexandre Soumet. The plot is not related to Lord Byron’s work of the same title (published in 1826 and concerning the Ottoman siege of the Acrocorinth in 1715). Rossini set his opera to the siege of Corinth during the invasion of Mo- hammed II to the Peloponnese, in 1459, after the Fall of Constantinople. The governor of Corinth, Cléomène, is ready to hand over the city, while the brave young Greek officer Néoclès undertakes its defense, winning Cléomène’s daughter, Pamira, at the same time. Pamira, however, falls into Ma- homet’s hands, but Néoclès liberates her, enraging Mahomet, who threatens to slaughter all Greeks. Gathered in the catacombs of Corinth, where the priests bless the banners, they recall Marathon and the Thermopylae. Eventually, all Greeks are either killed or commit suicide. In the historical siege of Corinth, the philhellenic public certainly recognised the contemporary one of Missolonghi and the heroic sortie, as well as the references and parallels with ancient Greek history. Corinth and Missolonghi became the new Thermopylae.
An enthusiastic supporter of the Greek Revolution, Rossini raised funds to aid the Greek cause, con- tributing to philhellenic committees throughout Europe. The opera premiered at the Paris Opera on October 9, 1826, in French. It was a great suc- cess, and the proceeds were donated in support of the Greek Struggle. Notably, 30,000 francs
were raised in a single day – roughly the equiva- lent of 100,000 Euros. The libretto was translated into Italian by Callisto Bassi and the opera per- formed in concert form in 1827 in Barcelona; the first staged presentation took place in Parma on January 26, 1828 (L’ Assedio di Corinto). The Siege of Corinth was the last opera Rossini composed on a related subject.
SCENES AND FIGURES OF FREEDOM The phenomenon of Philhellenism 315