Introduction : Music in the present tense -- 1824. Deciphering hyperbole : Stendhal's Vie de Rossini -- 1825. 'Quelque peu theatral' : the operatic coronation of Charles X -- 1826. 'Les Grecs sont français' : musical philhellenism in Paris -- 1827. Dying for music : Rossini and Moi͏̈se -- 1828. The discovery of the 'twin styles' -- 1829. Looking for the revolution in Guillaume Tell -- 1830. Beyond the Rossinian moment