Giacomo Meyerbeer his family. He arrived in Italy at the beginning of 1816, after visits to Paris and London, where he heard Cramer play. In Paris, he wrote to a friend, 'I go from museum to museum, library to library, theatre to theatre, with the restlessness of the Wandering Jew'. During his years in Italy Meyerbeer became acquainted with, and impressed by, the works of his contemporary Gioachino Rossini, who by 1816, at the age of 24, was already director of both major opera houses in Naples and in the same year premiered his operas "The Barber of Seville" and "Otello". Meyerbeer
Gioachino Rossini under state control and turned into the Conservatorio Statale di Musica "Gioachino Rossini". The corporate body which managed Rossini's inheritance assumed the name Fondazione G. Rossini. The aims of the institution, which is still active, are to support the conservatory and promote the figure, the memory, and the works of Rossini. The institution has been a major sponsor of the Rossini Opera Festival since its beginning. Rossini's estate funded the Prix Rossini, a prize awarded to young French composers and librettists. The prize began to be awarded in 1878 on the death of his widow and is given by the