Birth

29th February 1792 Pesaro, Italy

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Death

13th November 1868 Paris, France aged 76

 

Musical era

Classical but Romantic at the end of his career

 

Family

Gioachino was the son of Giuseppe Rossini, a poor trumpeter who played in various bands and orchestras and Anna Guidarini, a singer. He spent his entire childhood in the theatre. He found it easy to learn to sing and play but he was rather lazy.

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Important points from his life

At 14, he composed his first opera At 15 he had learned the violin, horn, and harpsichord and had sung in public in the theatre to earn money. When his voice broke, he became an accompanist and then a conductor. Rossini’s growing fame earned him a contract and he went to Bologna. Wanting to travel, he went to Paris in November 1823 where he was adored. He wrote 39 operas by the time he was 38.

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Best known pieces

• Comic opera The Barber of Seville

• William Tell

• The Thieving Magpie

• The Italian Girl in Algiers

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What has been said

Known as the Italian Mozart

'The language of music is common to all generations and nations; it is understood by everybody, since it is understood with the heart.' Rossini

'Eating, loving, singing, and digesting are, in truth, the four acts of the comic opera known as life, and they pass like bubbles of a bottle of champagne. Whoever lets them break without having enjoyed them is a complete fool.' Rossini

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