same subject it was nothing, when it was suggested that Paisiello's
should be revived. So the St. Petersburg "Barbiere" of 1788 was
produced, and beside Rossini's it proved so dull, stupid, and antiquated
that the public instantly recognized the beauties of the work which they
had persuaded themselves to ignore. Yet for this work, which placed the
reputation of the young composer on a lofty pedestal, he received only
two thousand francs.

Our composer took his failures with great phlegm and good nature, based,
perhaps, on an invincible self-confidence. When his "Sigismonde" had
been hissed at Venice, he sent his mother a _fiasco_ (bottle). In
the last instance he sent her, on the morning succeeding the first
performance, a letter with a picture of a _fiaschetto_ (little bottle).


III.

The same year (1816) was produced at Naples the opera of "Otello," which
was an important point of departure in the reforms introduced by Rossini
on the Italian stage. Before speaking further of this composer's career,
it is necessary to admit that every valuable change furthered by him had
already been inaugurated by Mozart, a musical genius so great that he
seems to have included all that went before, all that succeeded him. It
was not merely that Rossini enriched the orchestration to such a degree,
but, revolting from the delay of the dramatic movement, caused by
the great number of arias written for each character, he gave large
prominence to the concerted pieces, and used them where monologue had
formerly been the rule. He developed the basso and baritone parts,
giving them marked importance in serious opera, and worked out the
choruses and finales with the most elaborate finish.