Rossini Hearing the Impossible

For centuries the flute had a reputation: brilliant in some keys, nearly unusable in others. Before about 1835, certain scales, trills, and rapid runs were so awkward that sensible composers simply avoided writing them.

Then came Theobald Boehm. By redesigning the instrument and inventing a new system of keys and fingerings, he made every scale and trill possible—and, crucially, made them feel equally ‘natural’ under the fingers.

To win acceptance, Boehm traveled to London and Paris, and in Paris he sought the approval of Gioachino Rossini. He was shown into Rossini’s dressing room while the composer was shaving. Boehm was told to wait in the next room.

Rossini suddenly heard a flute doing something he believed couldn’t be done: long, fast passages in keys like D‑flat, clean and effortless. Unable to resist, he burst in—wigless, face covered with lather—and shouted, “You cannot play that!”

Boehm answered calmly, “But I am playing it.”

“I don’t care if you are,” Rossini snapped. “It’s utterly impossible!”

Eventually Rossini was convinced. And Boehm’s flute—once ‘impossible’ in certain keys—became the instrument used by virtuosi around the world.