Rossini’s autographs kept at the Rossini Foundation in Pesaro were acquired mainly through the Maestro’s bequest.
The autograph scores which were inherited are related to some of the works performed for the first time in Naples: Elisabetta regina d’Inghilterra (4 October 1815), Otello (4 December 1816), Armida (11 November 1817), La donna del lago (24 October 1819), Maometto II (3 December 1820), Adina (22 June 1826).
The Foundation also possesses two different versions, piano and orchestral, of the Petite Messe Solennelle, composed in 1863 and all the compositions made in the Parisian period known as Péchés de vieillesse.
Other autographs have been purchased by the Rossini Foundation in more recent times, such as the aria included in the opera of Luigi Mosca; Il Voto Filiale, a short cantata composed in 1820, one of the pieces in the series “Mi lagnerò tacendo”.
In 1999 the Foundation purchased the Fondo Lord St. Davids which, in addition to numerous printed compositions and some manuscripts, includes the following autographs: Gran scena e duetto per il Maometto II, some closing bars for the introduction of Cenerentola, and another version of “Mi lagnerò tacendo”, two cadences for the Stabat Mater, some letters and the small and curious poem Le note musicali.
