What is Gioachino Rossini?
{{no sources|date=March 2024}} [[File:Composer_Rossini_G_1865_by_Carjat_-_Restoration.jpg|thumb|right|Gioachino Rossini]] '''Gioachino Rossini''' (born [[Pesaro]] 29 February 1792; died [[Passy]] 13 November 1868) was an [[Italy|Italian]] [[composer]]. He was the most famous composer of [[opera]]s in his time. His operas had lots of new ideas. Italian operas had become rather unimaginative, with composers such as [[Cimarosa]] and [[Giovanni Paisiello|Paisiello]] writing the same sort of thing each time. Rossini made his operas interesting by writing [[bel canto|skillfully for the singers]], giving them good tunes, as well as giving the [[orchestra]] interesting music, and by choosing a variety of stories for his operas. The opera for which he is best known today is the ''[[Il Barbiere di Siviglia]]'' (''The Barber of Seville''). Many of the [[overture]]s to his operas are played at orchestral concerts. The most popular is the overture to his opera ''Guillaume Tell'' (''[[William Tell]]'') with its feature in the British TV show ''The Adventures of William Tell.'' Rossini retired in 1829 and wrote no music for almost thirty years, but late in his life he began to compose again. He wrote no more operas, but did write some piano music and the ''Petite messe solonnelle''. His friends begged him to write another opera but he always refused. == Life == Rossini was born on 29 February of the [[leap year]] 1792. His birthplace was Pesaro, a small town in Italy on the [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic]] coast. His father played the [[French horn|horn]] in military [[band]]s and [[opera house]]s and his mother sang in [[opera]]s. Often his parents toured together and the young Rossini was left in the care of his [[grandmother]]. The family eventually settled in [[Bologna]]. Rossini had lessons in [[singing]], [[cello]], [[piano]] and [[counterpoint]]. He did not like the counterpoint lessons, but it did help him to study different styles of music and he became very good at writing [[harmony]] in a clear way. === Early career ===