Editing Gioachino Rossini (section)

===France, 1824–1829===
[[File:Moise Act III.jpg|thumb|left|alt=page of musical score|Extract from Rossini's ''Moïse'' published in ''[[Le Globe]]'', 31 March 1827, in an article by [[Ludovic Vitet]]{{refn|Apparently the first music quotation ever printed in a Paris daily newspaper, the extract outlines the choral music that excited audiences at the end of the opera's third act.{{sfn|Walton|2007|pp=156–157}}|group=n}}]]

Already in 1818, Meyerbeer had heard rumours that Rossini was seeking a lucrative appointment at the [[Paris Opera]] – "Should [his proposals] be accepted, he will go to the French capital, and we will perhaps experience curious things."{{sfn|Letellier|1999|pp=349–350}} Some six years were to pass before this prophecy came true.

In 1824 Rossini, under a contract with the French government, became director of the [[Comédie-Italienne#The Théâtre-Italien in the 19th century|Théâtre-Italien]] in Paris, where he introduced Meyerbeer's opera ''[[Il crociato in Egitto]]'', and for which he wrote ''[[Il viaggio a Reims]]'' to celebrate the coronation of [[Charles X of France|Charles X]] (1825). This was his last opera to an Italian libretto, and was later cannibalised to create his first French opera, ''[[Le comte Ory]]'' (1828). A new contract in 1826 meant he could concentrate on productions at the Opéra and to this end he substantially revised ''Maometto II'' as ''[[Le siège de Corinthe]]'' (1826) and ''Mosé'' as ''[[Mosè in Egitto|Moïse et Pharaon]]'' (1827). Meeting French taste, the works are extended (each by one act), the vocal lines in the revisions are less florid and the dramatic structure is enhanced, with the proportion of arias reduced.{{sfn|Gossett|2001|loc=§&nbsp;5. Europe and Paris 1822–9}} One of the most striking additions was the chorus at the end of Act III of ''Moïse'', with a ''[[Dynamics (music)#Changes|crescendo]]'' repetition of a [[Diatonic and chromatic|diatonic]] ascending bass line, rising first by a [[minor third]], then by a [[major third]], at each appearance, and a descending [[Diatonic and chromatic|chromatic]] top line, which roused the excitement of audiences.{{sfn|Walton|2007|pp=156–60}}

[[File:Eugène Du Faget - Costume designs for Guillaume Tell - 1-3. Laure Cinti-Damoreau as Mathilde, Adolphe Nourrit as Arnold Melchtal, and Nicolas Levasseur as Walter Furst.jpg|thumb|Costume designs for ''[[William Tell (opera)|Guillaume Tell]]'', with [[Laure Cinti-Damoreau]] as Mathilde, [[Adolphe Nourrit]] as Arnold Melchtal, and [[Nicolas Levasseur]] as Walter Furst]]

Rossini's government contract required him to create at least one new ''"grand opėra"'', and Rossini settled on the story of [[William Tell]], working closely with the librettist [[Victor-Joseph Étienne de Jouy|Étienne de Jouy]]. The story in particular enabled him to indulge "an underlying interest in the related genres of folk music, pastoral and the picturesque". This becomes clear from the overture, which is explicitly programmatic in describing weather, scenery and action, and presents a version of the ''[[Ranz des Vaches]]'', the Swiss cowherd's call, which "undergoes a number of transformations during the opera" and gives it in Richard Osborne's opinion "something of the character of a [[leitmotif]]".{{sfn|Osborne|2002a}}{{refn|The ''ranz des vaches'' had already been used to characterise Switzerland in [[André Grétry]]'s 1791 [[Guillaume Tell (Grétry)|opera on Tell]].{{sfn|Walton|2007|p=276}}|group=n}} In the opinion of the music historian Benjamin Walton, Rossini "saturate[s] the work with local colour to such a degree that there is room for little else." Thus, the role of the soloists is significantly reduced compared to other Rossini operas, the hero not even having an aria of his own, whilst the chorus of the Swiss people is consistently in the musical and dramatic foregrounds.{{sfn|Walton|2007|p=277}}{{sfn|Bartlet|2003|p=275}}

''[[William Tell (opera)|Guillaume Tell]]'' premiered in August 1829. Rossini also provided for the Opéra a shorter, three-act version, which incorporated the ''[[pas redoublé]]'' (quick march) final section of the overture in its finale; it was first performed in 1831 and became the basis of the Opéra's future productions.{{sfn|Osborne|2002a}} ''Tell'' was very successful from the start and was frequently revived – in 1868 the composer was present at its 500th performance at the Opéra. The ''Globe'' had reported enthusiastically at its opening that "a new epoch has opened not only for French opera, but for dramatic music elsewhere".{{sfn|Bartlet|2003|p=278}} This was an era, it transpired, in which Rossini was not to participate.