Gioachino Rossini so successful that the fame of Paisiello's opera was transferred to Rossini's, to which the title "The Barber of Seville" passed as an inalienable heritage. Later in 1822, a 30-year-old Rossini succeeded in meeting Ludwig van Beethoven, who was then aged 51, deaf, cantankerous and in failing health. Communicating in writing, Beethoven noted: "Ah, Rossini. So you're the composer of "The Barber of Seville". I congratulate you. It will be played as long as Italian opera exists. Never try to write anything else but opera buffa; any other style would do violence to your nature." Between 1815 and 1823 Rossini
Michigan Opera Theatre Maria Ewing who sang in the 1970 "The Barber of Seville" production; Leona Mitchell, who sang Bess in the company's 1975 production of "Porgy and Bess"; Kathleen Battle, whose 1975 performance as Rosina in "The Barber of Seville" marked her operatic debut; Catherine Malfitano, who created the role of Catherine Sloper in MOT's world premiere staging of "Washington Square" in 1976. Other notable artists include The Metropolitan Opera's Jerome Hines, a bass, who in 1974 sang the title role of "Boris Godunov"; Nicole Cabell who sang Musetta in "La bohème" in 2005, a few months after winning the BBC Cardiff