Exploring Rossini with James Baillieu

Famed for his comic operas, the Italian composer Gioachino Rossini retired from the art form by 1829, and by 1842, he appeared to have given up composition altogether. However, a move to the infinitely inspiring Paris in the 1850s led to a late flowering that culminated in his last large-scale work, ironically named the Petite Messe solennelle (1863). Neither petite nor solemn, Rossini dedicated it both to two close friends and to God, whom he ho...