Paris during the Bourbon Restoration "The Barber of Seville", by Gioachino Rossini, at the Théâtre-Italien in 1818, two years after its premiere in Rome. Rossini made modifications for the French audience, changing it from two to four acts and changing Rosina's part from a contralto to a soprano. This new version premiered at the Odeon Theater on 6 May 1824, with Rossini present, and remains today the version most used in opera houses around the world. At the beginning of the Restoration, the Paris Opera was located in the Salle Montansier on rue Richelieu, where the square Louvois is today. On 13 February 1820, the
Rossini Opera Festival The ensuing grant (of which parliament has recently approved the continuation) is financed from the funds of the "Beni Culturali". The Rossini Festival has seen many of Rossini's lesser-known works revived, some of which have since entered the standard operatic repertoire. From the beginning, the Festival attracted some major singers including Marilyn Horne, Montserrat Caballé, Ruggero Raimondi, Samuel Ramey and Juan Diego Flórez. Based on press reports, some productions have been extremely controversial. Notes Sources Rossini Opera Festival The Rossini Opera Festival (ROF) is an international music festival held in August of each year in Pesaro, Italy, the birthplace of