For the best discussion of the Barber of Seville Overture, I would suggest
reading the Information booklet accompanying the Facsimile edition of the
Autograph manuscript of the entire opera issued by the Accademia Nazionale de
Santa Cecilia. The critical commentary is by Philip Gossett (one of the
foremost Rossini scholars today).
The autograph manuscript does not have a full score manuscript overture with
it.
It has bound in at the beginning, the bass part of the overture to Aureliano
with a title page stating that it is the Basso part of the overture for this
opera.
The second version of the overture, which Rossini used for Elisabetta,
calls for an enlarged orchestra with three trombones and tympany. (There are
some other differences between the two versions.) Since these instruments are
not called for in the "Barber", Rossini used the earlier, Aureliano, version.
Rossini's autograph was in Bologna when a Paris publisher wanted to
print a critical full-score edition of the opera. Rossini who retired to
Paris, wrote to a friend back in Bologna asking him to retreive the autograph
score of the "original overture" to his Barber and send it to him. The
surviving
follow-up letter, indicates it could not be found.
The conductor Luigi Arditi announced a concert program in London (in the
1860's I believe) in which he was performing the "original overture" in Bb
major (not the well known one in E major), which he claims was composed by
Rossini for the first performance of the opera in England (1818).
I have a collection of 20 Rossini Overtures arranged for piano and
printed 1823-25, printed in Vienna by Sauer & Leidesdorf. The overture for
Elizabetta is the well known E major overture, however for Aureliano they have
an
overture made up of music from that opera, and for the Barber, it has an
unknown overture in Bb major. This same overture was also published in a
piano
transcription of the opera by Mollo in Vienna about the same time. The first
7
measures of the main theme of this "unknown overture" are printed in Herbert
Weinstock's bigraphy of Rossini (pg 414). I have played through this
overture many times and sections of it certainly sound like many other
Rossini
overtures, it also has the typical Rossini Crescendi.
I have communicated this matter with Dr. Gossett and he has replied:
"The B flat major overture to Barbiere is a fake, always has been. Added
in Germany. . . As far as Arditi, Rossini had NOTHING to do with the
Barbiere premiere in London . . ." He went on to point out that many of the
overtures in my collection are not by Rossini, and are made up of music
extracted
from the operas.
His remarks in the facsimile edition also dispell some of the other myths
about an original overture based on "Spanish" themes, and the original
overture
being lost.
I hope this information helps. I thought I might have rediscovered the
"original" overture, but another one bites the dust!
Michael D'Andrea
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