Alessandro Rolla

Alessandro Rolla
Alessandro Rolla, Milan, c. 1820, on a stipple engraving by Luigi Rados (1773–1840).
Born	(1757-04-22)22 April 1757 Pavia
Died	15 September 1841(1841-09-15) (aged 84) Milan
Nationality	Italian
Occupation	Composer
Style	Early Romanticism

Alessandro Rolla (Italian pronunciation: [alesˈsandro ˈrɔlla]; 22 April 1757 – 15 September 1841) was an Italian viola and violin virtuoso, composer, conductor and teacher. His son, Antonio Rolla, was also a violin virtuoso and composer.

His fame now rests mainly as "teacher of the great Paganini", yet his role was very important in the development of violin and viola technique. Some of the technical innovations that Paganini later used largely, such as left-hand pizzicato, chromatic ascending and descending scales, the use of very high positions on violin and viola, octave passages, were first introduced by Rolla.

Rolla was born in Pavia, Italy in 1757 and after his initial studies he moved to Milan where, from 1770 to 1778, he studied with Giovanni Andrea Fioroni, Maestro di cappella at Milan Cathedral, who was the most important musician in Milan after G. B. Sammartini. Charles Burney, in his musical tour in Italy, refers to Fioroni to acquire information about the Ambrosian Chant.

In 1772, he made his first public appearance as a soloist and composer performing "the first viola concerto ever heard", as reported by a contemporary writer. In 1782 he was appointed principal viola and the leader of the Ducale Orchestra in Parma, playing violin and viola until 1802. In 1795 he received a visit by the father of the young Paganini, wishing him to teach his son. After the death of the Duke of Parma, Rolla was offered a position as leader and orchestra director of the La Scala Orchestra in Milan in 1802. Here the new governors, the French and later the Austrians, wanted to create the most important orchestra of Italy and therefore hired the best virtuosos of the time. Among his students during this period were Cesare Pugni, the prolific composer of ballet music, whom he taught the violin. Rolla would conduct many of Pugni's operas for La Scala, among them Il Disertore Svizzero (1831) and La Vendetta (1832).