the simple frankness characteristic of the man, he always spoke of his
obligations to and his admiration of the great German. To an admirer who
was one day burning incense before him, Rossini said, in the spirit of
Cimarosa quoted elsewhere: "My 'Barber' is only a bright farce, but in
Mozart's 'Marriage of Figaro' you have the finest possible masterpiece
of musical comedy."

With all concessions made to Mozart as the founder of the forms of
modern opera, an equally high place must be given to Rossini for the
vigor and audacity with which he made these available, and impressed
them on all his contemporaries and successors. Though Rossini's
self-love was flattered by constant adulation, his expressions of
respect and admiration for such composers as Mozart, Gluck, Beethoven,
and Cherubini display what a catholic and generous nature he possessed.
The judgment of Ambros, a severe critic, whose bias was against Rossini,
shows what admiration was wrung from him by the last opera of the
composer: "Of all that particularly characterizes Rossini's early operas
nothing is discoverable in 'Tell;' there is none of his usual mannerism;
but, on the contrary, unusual richness of form and careful finish of
detail, combined with grandeur of outline. Meretricious embellishment,
shakes, runs, and cadences are carefully avoided in this work, which is
natural and characteristic throughout; even the melodies have not the
stamp and style of Rossini's earlier times, but only their graceful
charm and lively coloring."

Rossini must be allowed to be unequaled in genuine comic opera, and
to have attained a distinct greatness in serious opera, to be the most
comprehensive and at the same time the most national composer of Italy,
to be, in short, the Mozart of his country. After all has been admitted
and regretted--that he gave too little attention to musical science;