Gioachino Rossini

Gioachino Antonio Rossini (Pesaro, 29 February 1792 – Paris, 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer. In a period of twenty years (1810-1829) he composed forty operas.

Like many famous composers, he received his first music lessons from his father, Giuseppe Rossini, who was a horn and trumpet player. Subsequently he went to Bologna in 1806, where he studied at the Liceo Musicale under Padre Stanislao Mattei. In 1810 he received his first commission for an opera. In 1813 he achieved great success with his operas Tancredi and L'italiana in Algeri. Two years later, in 1815, when he was attached to the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, he composed serious operas as well as comic works (opera buffa's), such as Il barbiere di Siviglia (based on the play Le Barbier de Séville (1775) by Pierre Beaumarchais), La Cenerentola and La gazza ladra. In 1822 he married soprano Isabella Colbran and after writing his last opera for the Italian public, Semiramide, he moved to London.

In 1824 he settled in Paris and led the Théâtre Italien there. His last major theatrical work, Guillaume Tell, he wrote in 1829. Subsequently he composed sacred works, such as the Stabat Mater and the Petite Messe Solennelle, cantatas, songs, chamber music and more. In 1837 he separated from Isabella Colbran.