Rossini, Gioacchino Antonio 1792-1868
Italian operatic composer

Rossini was born in Pesaro, the son of a strolling horn-player and a baker's daughter turned singer. He was taught to sing and play at an early age, and in 1806 began to study composition at the Liceo in Bologna, where in 1808 he won the prize for counterpoint with a cantata. Tiring of the stern academic routine, he wrote several small-scale comic operas, among them La Scala di seta (1812, 'The Silken Ladder'), whose lively overture has remained popular although the opera itself was a failure.

His first successes were Tancredi (1813) and L'Italiana in Algeri (1813, 'The Italian Girl in Algiers'). In 1816 his masterpiece, Il Barbiere de Seviglia ('The Barber of Seville'), was received in Rome with enthusiasm despite a disastrous opening night. Otello (1816) has since been eclipsed by Verdi's masterpiece. In 1817 La Cenerentola ('Cinderella') was favourably received in Rome and La Gazza Ladra ('The Thieving Magpie') in Milan, and these were followed in Naples by Armide (1817), Mos� in Egitto (1818, 'Moses in Egypt') and La Donna del Lago (1819, 'The Lady of the Lake'). Semiramide (1823), the most advanced of his works, had only a lukewarm reception from the Venetians.

In 1821 Rossini had married a beautiful Spanish singer, Isabella Colbran, who performed several of his leading roles, including that of Semiramide. They now won fresh laurels in Vienna (where Rossini met Beethoven) and in London, and Rossini was invited to become director of the Italian Theatre in Paris. There he adapted several of his works to French taste: Maometto II (1820) as Le Si�ge de Corinth (1826, 'The Siege of Corinth'), Mos� in Egitto as Mo�se et Pharaon (1827), and the stage cantata Il viaggio a Reims (1825) as Le Comte Ory (1828, 'Count Ory'). In 1829 what is arguably his greatest work, Guillaume Tell ('William Tell'), written in a nobler style than his Italian operas, was first performed. In 1837 he separated from Isabella, and in 1847 married Olympe Pelissier, who had been nurse to his children.

After 1829 Rossini wrote little music, except for the Stabat Mater (1841), the Petite messe solennelle (1863, 'Little Solemn Mass') and a number of vocal and piano pieces. In 1836 he retired to Bologna and took charge of the Liceo, whose fortunes he revived. The Revolutionary disturbances in 1847 drove him to Florence in deep depression, but he recovered and returned to Paris in 1855.

With Donizetti and Bellini, Rossini helped form the 19th-century Italian operatic style which became the inheritance of Verdi. Many of his works are still much performed, and the wit and vivacity of the overtures ensures them a place in the concert repertory.

Bibliography: A Kendall, Gioacchino Rossini, The Reluctant Hero (1992); R Osborne, Rossini (1986); J Harding, Rossini (1971); H Weinstock, Rossini: A Biography (1968).