The Barber of Seville (Paisiello) dal francese, da rappresentarsi nel Teatro Imperiale del corte, l'anno 1782"" (Trans: "The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution, comical drama with music freely translated from the French, presented at the Imperial Court Theater, the year 1782") The story essentially follows the original Beaumarchais play, and in some places directly translates songs and dialogue. The plots of the Paisiello and the Rossini versions very closely resemble each other, with subtle differences. Petrosellini's libretto puts a greater emphasis on the love story and less on the comic qualities. Several musical adaptations of "Il barbiere di Siviglia" predated the version by
Elisabetta Manfredini-Guarmani back in Bologna to sing the title role in a revival of Paisiello's "Nina, ossia La pazza per amore" at the Teatro Marsigli. Manfredini-Guarmani first worked with Gioachino Rossini in May 1811, when she sang in Haydn's oratorio "The Seasons". The special performance of the oratorio (sung in Italian as "Le quattro stagioni") was in celebration of the birth of the Napoleon II two months earlier and was conducted from the harpsichord by Rossini. When Rossini wrote his opera "Ciro in Babilonia", he composed the role of Almira specifically for Manfredini-Guarmani's voice. Following its premiere at the Teatro Comunale on