Rossini - Overture from the "Barber of Seville"

Gioachino Antonio Rossini (1792 - 1868) "The Barber of Seville", or "The Useless Precaution" ("Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione") is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto (based on Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville) by Cesare Sterbini. The overture, first written for "Aureliano in Palmira", is a famous example of Rossini's characteristic Italian style. The première (under the title Almaviva, or the Useless Precaution) took place on February 20, 1816, at the Teatro Argentina, Rome.

Gioachino Antonio Rossini was an Italian composer who wrote 39 operas as well as some sacred music, songs, chamber music, and piano pieces. He was a precocious composer of operas, and he made his debut at age 18 with La cambiale di matrimonio. His best-known operas include the Italian comedies The Barber of Seville , The Italian Girl in Algiers, and Cinderella. He also wrote a string of serious operas in Italian, including works such as Tancredi, Otello, and Semiramide. The Thieving Magpie features one of his most celebrated overtures.

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