Portal:Opera/Selected picture/97
Credit: Charles Motte, restored by Adam Cuerden
A depiction of Gioachino Rossini's meeting with King George IV at the Brighton Pavilion in 1823. George IV made much of Rossini when he arrived in England with his wife Isabella Colbran. He and Colbran had signed contracts for an opera season at the King's Theatre in London. However, Colbran's vocal shortcomings were a serious liability, and she reluctantly retired from performing. Public opinion was not improved by Rossini's failure to provide a new opera for the theatre, as promised.