Although no pianist, Gioacchino Rossini wrote a great deal for the piano, especially in his later years, and developed some fearful technical tricks including a hair-raising set of octave glissandi in this
Petit caprice (Style Offenbach) which, however well-known from Respighi’s orchestration in
La boutique fantasque, is much more exciting in this original version for piano, and every bit as fine a cancan as any that Offenbach wrote.
from notes by Leslie Howard © 2004
