The Sun.
London, England, 1848-11-16 00:00:00

ROSSINI.

The celebrated air in Tancredi "Di tanti palpiti" is
called in Italy the aria di rizi, and this term originated
thus:—Rossini—the great scene painter, as Beethoven
called him—had composed for Tancredi a grand mor-
ceau d'entree which Signora Malanotte, the prima donna,
had rejected. The cantatrice having declared that she
would not sing it only two days before the announced
performance of the opera, the then young composer
returned to his hotel in despair, but, nevertheless, set
down at table to his repast with a but little lessened ap-
petite. At that time, as is well known it is now, most din-
ners commence with a dish of rice, which is but slightly
cooked, so that only four minutes before it is served up
the cook is accustomed to put the important question,
"Bisognonicitere i rizi?" The query was put to Rossini,
the rice put to the fire, and before it was ready ho had
written this famous air. This is the Italian version of
the story, and hence the nomenclature aria di rizi. But
there is another anecdote in circulation among the
Italian cognoscenti, which, if true, bruises on the heel of
Rossini sorely, and destroys at once his claim to the
authorship of this, one of his most charming and most
popular melodies. A composer, much esteemed at Flo-
rence during the first half of the eighteenth century, by
name Barroni, lost all at once, like our lamented, our
illustrious Beethoven, his hearing. All the physicians of
the place were in turn consulted, but if we may credit
the facetious Boileau, Florence was never celebrated for
a successful cultivation of the Art of which Ilippocrates
may be considered the presiding genius, for he says
somewhere

" Dans Florence jadis vivait un rnedecin
Savant hableur, dit on, et aliThre assassin;"
which may admit of the following paraphrase:
" In Florence, a physician once there lived
Who more by killing than by saving thrived ;"
and though Barroni came across many of these savans,
the extreme unction was rendered unnecessary in his
case, and in despair of meeting with a cure he set out on
a pilgrimage to Notre Dame de Misericorde at Loretti, a
very fashionable procedure in those golden days. There,
it is related, a miracle was wrought on his behalf, but
whether from the effects of his pilgrimage I must leave
in nubibus. Nevertheless he recovered, somehow or
another, his sense of hearing, for which interposition on
his behalf he composed a choral hymn in praise of the
Holy Mother. This, under the title of " Litauie della
Santa Casa," was performed on the 15th of August,
1737, for the first time. This litany is repeated annually
at the feast of the Annunciation; and it is strenuously
asserted by Rossini's detractors that he, when at the
Notre Dame de Loretto was so powerfully struck by the
beauty of the Cantilena that he noted it down and intro-
duced it into his 7 ancrali. " When Greek meets
Greek," is well understood. So even let the Ros-
sinists and Anti-Rossinists urge and support their
several arguments pro and con. as they best can. I
think myself the air boars almost indisputable evidence
of being the production of Rossini—though I must add,
"Palmam qui meruit ferat !"

Tits OCEAN MONARCH.—The Government have
just presented a very beautiful pocket chronometer to
the captain of the Brazilian frigate AfFops°, who dis-
played so much daring and humanity in his successful
exertions to save the passengers and crew of the ocean
Monarch. The chronometer is a perfect model of the
marine chronometer No. 2, which obtained for the
maker in the year 1831 the Government prize of 170/.
Its size is that of an ordinary waistcoat pocket watch.
The following inscription is engraved on the inner
case ;__-., Presented by the British Government to Cap-
tails Jertquim Marquis Lisboa, of the steam-frigate Af-
fonso, of the Brazilian imperial navy, in testimony of
their admiration of the gallantry and humanity displayed
by him in rescuing many NBritish subjects from the
1 burning wrci:,k_of the ship Ocean Monarch, Aug., 1848: