Rossini, Gioachino.

the working full score for chorus, bass solo (Maometto)  and orchestra (including a sketch for stage band), written in brown ink on up to twenty staves per page, with autograph title above the music, ("Coro, e Cavatina Maometto"), being a composing manuscript with some deletions and alterations (some smudges and erasures), cues and some music for the off-stage band, notated on one stave below the chorus, ("Banda sul Palco") and another on stage for the choral "Allegro marziale" ("Con Orchestra...Tutte le Bande") , comprising 362 bars in all,



48 pages, oblong 4to (c.22 x 31.5cms), 20-stave paper, on 12 numbered bifolia, Neapolitan paper (watermark: bull in a double circle), mid nineteenth-century half calf, brown-gilt label on marbled boards ("Sorgete. Autograph score Rossini.") , bookplate of John Ella's music society ("The Musical Union Institute, Hanover Square, no.18, founded Michaelmas 1860"), browning to first and last pages, a few pages trimmed by the binder (eg [p.25]), some stains and dust-marking to margins

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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From the collection of John Ella. This manuscript has never been offered on the open market until now.

Rare: autograph manuscripts from Rossini's major operas are of great rarity at auction. 

This substantial manuscript contains a complete number (no.4) from one of Rossini's most important Neapolitan operas, composed in 1820; it was later transformed by him for Paris as Le Siège de Corinthe (1826).  Maometto's entrance aria ("cavatina") is common to both versions, and to Rossini's substantial revision for Venice in 1823.  The opera marked a high point in Rossini's structural innovations in opera, most notably in the scene preceding this one (the famous "Terzettone"): Rossini's next few operas were rather less adventurous in terms of structure.  Much of Rossini's autograph manuscript for Maometto II is in the Fondazione Rossini, Pesaro, but includes alterations made for Venice in 1823 and even some for Paris in 1826. The Pesaro source lacks some numbers altogether: No.2, which is lost; No.4, the present manuscript; No.5, the Finale Primo, part of which is lost; No.6, in the New York Public Library; No.10, which is lost; and Nos 11 & 12 , which are incomplete.  Several recitatives are also missing from the autograph in Pesaro.

The opera was written for and first staged at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples on 3 December 1820, with Filippo Galli (1783-1853) in the title role represented here. This scene is set in the Venetian colony of Negroponte in 1476: the Turks have breached the gates and Sultan Maometto II (the conqueror of Constantinople), here rouses his triumphant troops, proclaims his glorious victory and tells them that, with him, they will demolish the Venetian Empire and go on to conquer the world.  The opening chorus is spectacular and exotic, with syncopations, snap-rhythms and effective use of "Turkish" drums, cymbals and triangle.

We are grateful to Professor Philip Gossett for his assistance in our cataloguing of this manuscript.