Gioachino Rossini was not just an enormously successful composer and gourmand extraordinaire, but also a highly astute businessman. When he eventually went to the celestial grande bouffe in 1868, he left an estate worth millions of francs. According to Sosthènes de la Rochefoucauld, Rossini composed “Il Viaggio a Reims” as “un homage complètement désintéressé,” which was 19th century French Court-speak for {…}