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
Gioachino Rossini the rest of the score in 1841. The success of the work bears comparison with his achievements in opera, but his comparative silence during the period from 1832 to his death in 1868 makes his biography appear almost like the narrative of two lives—the life of swift triumph and the long life of seclusion, of which biographers give us pictures in stories of the composer's cynical wit, his speculations in fish mongering, his mask of humility and indifference. In 1839 Rossini was appointed director of the Liceo Musicale di Bologna where among his pupils was contralto Marietta Alboni. His first