• Name: Gioachino Rossini
• Birthday: 02/29/1792
• Birth Place: Pesaro, Italy
• Died: 11/13/1868
• Place of Death: Paris, France
• Period: Romantic
• Genre: Classical

Title	Release
(427) Guillaume Tell (William Tell), opera
(1268) Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville), opera	1982
(167) Overture to La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie)
(235) Semiramide, opera
Des tritons s'il vous plait (montée-descente), for piano in C major (Péchés de vieillesse, book 10), QR xviii/21	2006
(2) Échantillon de blague mélodique sur les noires de la main droite, for piano in G flat major (Péchés de vieillesse, book 9)	2001
(2) Encore un peu de blague, for piano in C major, QR xviii/46	2006
(2) Mélodie candide, for piano in A major (Péchés de vieillesse, book 9), QR xvi/67	2001
(2) Petite polka chinoise, for piano in B minor (Péchés de vieillesse, book 7), QR xiv/25	2000
(2) Petite promenade de Passy à Courbevoie, for piano in C major	2006
Prélude italien, for piano in A flat major (Péchés de vieillesse, book 9), QR xvi/107	2001
(2) Ritournelle gothique, for piano in C major, QR xviii/63	2006
Scherzo for piano in A minor	2001
Thème, for piano in E flat major	2001
(2) Tourniquet sur la gamme chromatique, ascendante et déscendante, for piano in C major, QR xviii/55	2006
Waltz for piano in E flat major	2001
(3) À Grenade ("La nuit règne"), song for soprano & piano (Deux nouvelles compositions), QR v/90/1
(2) A ma belle mère (Requiem eternam), for piano in A major (Péchés de vieillesse, book 11), QR xi/58	1996
Addio ai Viennesi ("Da voi parto, amate sponde"), song for tenor & piano ("Addio di Rossini")	1996
(5) Adelaide di Borgogna (Ottone, re d'Italia), opera	1990
(6) Adieux á la vie (Elegy on one note) ("Salut! dernière aurore"), for voice & piano (Péchés de vieillesse, book 2), QR v/75	1963
Adina (Il Califfo in Bagdad), opera
(2) Ah, per pietà, t'arresta!, duet for 2 sopranos & orchestra (insertion number for G. Nicolini's Quinto Fabio)	1985
Alla gloria un genio eletto, aria for tenor & orchestra (insertion aria, Mosca's Li pretendenti delusi)	1993
Alle voci della gloria, scene and aria for baritone & orchestra	1993
(26) Andante and Variations on "Di tanti palpiti," for violin (flute) & harp in F major, QR vi/1
(11) Andante, Theme and Variations, for flute, clarinet, horn & bassoon in F major, QR vi/18
(8) Anzoleta avanti la regata ("La su la machina"), for voice & piano (La regata veneziana) (Péchés de vieillesse, book 1)	1999
(5) Anzoleta co passa la regata ("Ixe qua vardeli povereti"), for voice & piano (La regata veneziana) (Péchés de vieillesse, book 1)	1999
(6) Anzoleta dopo la regata ("Ciapa un baso"), for voice & piano (La regata veneziana) (Péchés de vieillesse, book 1)	1999
(3) Aragonese, for voice & piano (Péchés de vieillesse, book 11), QR iv/44	1996
(7) Arietta all'antica, dedotta dal O salutaris ostia ("Mi lagnerò"), for voice & piano (Péchés de vieillesse, book 11), QR iv/60	1996
(3) Ariette à l'ancienne ("Que le jour me dure"), for voice & piano (Péchés de vieillesse, book 3), QR v/69	1990
(4) Ariette Villageoise ("Que le jour me dure"), for voice & piano (Péchés de vieillesse, book 11), QR v/72
(63) Armida, opera
(4) Assez de memento: dansons, for piano in F major (Péchés de vieillesse, book 6), QR x/94	1992
(3) Au chevet d'un mourant ("De la douleur nait l'espérance"), for voice & piano (Péchés de vieillesse, book 3), QR v/17	1996
(7) Aureliano in Palmira, opera	1991
(4) Ave Maria su due sole note ("A te, che benedetta fra tutte sei, Maria"), for alto & piano (Péchés de vieillesse, book 1), QR iv/51	1963
(6) Ave Maria, for chorus & organ (Péchés de vieillesse, book 3), QR xi/43
Barcarole for piano in E flat major (Péchés de vieillesse, book 6), QR xvi/29	1999
(5) Beltà crudele ("Amori scendete propizi al mio core"), for voice & piano W	1991
(23) Bianca e Falliero, opera	1989
(2) Boléro tartare, for piano in A minor (Péchés de vieillesse, book 8), QR xvii/33	2004
Brindisi (Del fanciullo il primo canto), for bass & chorus	1992
(2) Cantata in onore del sommo Pontefice Pio IX, for 4 voices, choir & orchestra	1993
Cantemus Domino: imitazione ad otto voci reali, for 2 sopranos, 2 altos, 2 tenors & 2 basses (Péchés de vieillesse, book 3), QR xi/53	1992
(10) Canzonetta spagnuola ("En medio a mis dolores"), for voice & piano	2006
(6) Chanson de Zora (La petite bohémienne) ("Gens de la plaine"), for voice & piano (Péchés de vieillesse, book 2), QR v/49	1999
(4) Chansonette, for piano in E flat major (Péchés de vieillesse, book 9), QR xvi/87

Gioachino Rossini's parents were both working musicians. His father played the horn and taught at the prestigious Accademia Filharmonica in Bologna, and his mother, although not formally trained, was a soprano. Rossini was taught and encouraged at home until he eventually enrolled at the Liceo Musicale in Bologna. After graduation from that institution, the young musician was commissioned by the Venetian Teatro San Moise to compose La cambiale di matrimonio, a comedy in one act. In 1812, Rossini wrote La pietra del paragone, for La Scala theater in Milan and was already, at the tender age of 20, Italy's most prominent composer.

In 1815, Rossini accepted a contract to work for the theaters in Naples, where he would remain until 1822, composing prolifically in comfort. He composed 19 operas during this tenure, focusing his attention on opera seria and creating one of his most famous serious works, Otello, for the Teatro San Carlos. While he served in this capacity, Rossini met and courted Isabella Colbran, a local soprano whom he would eventually marry. Other cities, too, clamored for Rossini's works, and it was for Roman audiences that he composed the sparkling comedies Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville, 1816) and La cenerentola (Cinderella, 1817).

In 1822, Rossini left Naples and embarked on a European tour. The Italian musician was received enthusiastically to say the least, and enjoyed fame and acclaim everywhere. Even Beethoven, at the opposite stylistic pole in the musical scene of the day, praised him. The following year, Rossini was commissioned to write Semiramide, a serious opera, for La Fenice, a theater in Venice. This work was less successful in its own day than some of his previous efforts, but spawned several arias that remain part of any vocalist's songbook. In 1824, Rossini traveled, via London, to Paris where he would live for five years and serve as the music director at the Théâtre Italien from 1824 to 1826. The composer gained commissions from other opera houses in France, including the Paris Opéra. Rossini composed his final opera, Guillaume Tell (1829), before retiring from composition in that genre at the age of 37. Its overture is not only a concert favorite but an unmistakable reflection and continuation of Beethoven's heroic ideal. The catalog of work Rossini had written at the time of his retirement included 32 operas, two symphonies, numerous cantatas, and a handful of oratorios and chamber music pieces. After moving back to Italy, Rossini became a widower in 1845. His marriage to Isabella Colbran had not been particularly happy, and shortly after her death, the composer married Olympe Pelissier, a woman who had been his mistress.

In 1855, Rossini, along with his new bride, moved once again, this time settling in Passy, a suburb of Paris. He spent the remaining years of his life writing sacred music as well as delectable miniatures for both piano and voice (some of which he called "sins of my old age"). He was revered from the time he was a teenager until his death. Rossini was buried in Paris' Père Lachaise cemetery in proximity to the graves of Vincenzo Bellini, Luigi Cherubini, and Frédéric Chopin. In 1887, Rossini's grave was transferred from Paris to Santa Croce, in Florence, in a ceremony attended by more than 6,000 admirers.

Rossini's chief legacy remains his extraordinary contribution to the operatic repertoire. His comedic masterpieces, including L'Italiana in Algeri, La gazza ladra, and perhaps his most famous work, Il barbiere di Siviglia, are regarded as cornerstones of the genre along with works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Giuseppe Verdi. ~ David Brensilver, All Music Guide