Steve Schwartz:

>Pavel Kotla asks:
>
>>BTW - has anybody heard about a viola concerto by Rosetti? I have just
>>heard the name somewhere. Does anybody know any recordings and know
>>anything about the piece (and the composer)?
>
>Despite the name, a Czech composer of the 18th century (real name:
>Frantisek Antonin Rossler; stage name: Antonio Rosetti).

This is actually more than we know by evidence.  In a biography, professor
Sterling E.  Moll of Chester University (USA) points out that the earliest
mention of his name the scripts tell is his wedding matricle, where it is
mentioned that he was born in 1750 and is now named Frantiszek Antonin
Rossler.  At that time he might already had czechified his name from the
original italian Antonin Rosetti.  Different things speak for and against
this and the traditional version.  Among them counts that there were
already at least five well known musicians named Rosetti in Europe at
that time, and that he showed an affinity to moderate his name to the
environment, as when he got an employment in Wallerstein in Germany, he
germanified his name to Franz Anton Roessler.

Didrik Schiele
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