Relayed from the National Museum of Wales

National Orchestra of Wales
(Cerddorfa Genedlaethol Cymru)

Rossini, happily remembered as the most modost and good-humoured musician who ever lived, holds his place on the operatic stage of today solely by The Barber of Seville, in spite of its age, one of the best Comic Operas which the world possesses. His serious work, William Tell, is no less worthy of affectionate regard, but except for the Overture, it has apparently disappeared from the present-day theatre. The Overture is, however, evergreen, and bids fair to remain so. It begins, as listeners will remember, with a fine tuneful section for the 'cellos in four parts, popular with 'cello players and with listeners alike. The section which follows describes a great storm among the hills; calm succeeds, and a quiet pastoral scene, and there is a stirring march, these combining to make the Overture picturesque and graphic in a way that the Overtures for the older Italian operas did not by any means always achieve.
(to 14.00)