Returning retirees

[verismissimo]

A friend has written saying how unusual it is for "artists" to retire and return successfully. The two he cites are Verdi and Thomas Hardy.

But who else?

[umslopogaas]

Well, sort of ... Rossini. He wrote a string of successful items, mostly operas but also sacred works and some others. Then he vanished for a number of years to live on his earnings, eat well, develop 'Tournedos Rossini' and put on a lot of weight. Then for no reasons I have ever seen explained, he re-emerged and produced 'William Tell', one of the all time great operas. Thank whoever he did, but I havent the faintest idea why.

[Barbirollians]

Lester Piggott

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Well, sort of ... Rossini. He wrote a string of successful items, mostly operas but also sacred works and some others. Then he vanished for a number of years to live on his earnings, eat well, develop 'Tournedos Rossini' and put on a lot of weight. Then for no reasons I have ever seen explained, he re-emerged and produced 'William Tell', one of the all time great operas. Thank whoever he did, but I havent the faintest idea why.

Is this right, umslopos? I thought he went into his "second career" after "Tell".

[Tony Halstead]

Vladimir HOROWITZ 'retired' 4 times, sometimes for several years at a time, e.g.
1936 - 1938, 1953 - 1965, 1969 - 1974, and 1983 - 1985. It now seems strange that a player who seemed so confident and assured on stage was in fact - apparently - full of self-doubt, and was actually a depressive in the 'clinical' sense.
Each emergence from 'retirement' was given great publicity and of course attracted huge audiences.
One can't help wondering how much of this was stage-managed...

[pastoralguy]

Lester Piggott

Minus his OBE!