Gioachino Rossini’s ambitious younger years saw his composing entirely focused on well-defined projects. In later years he developed musical ideas with or without poetry to hand, and the ‘Sins of Old Age’ heard here bring together genre songs and character pieces on both religious and domestic subjects. These include premiere recordings of album leaves that became scattered worldwide, including one sent by ‘pantélégraphe’, the first ever ‘fax’ transmission device.