Geltrude Righetti article by Stendhal, she wrote her famous memoir entitled "Cenni di una donna già cantante sopra il Maestro Rossini...", which includes an account of the première of "The Barber of Seville". Geltrude Righetti Geltrude Righetti (1793–1862) was an Italian contralto closely associated with the operas of Gioachino Rossini. (Her name is also sometimes given as Giorgi-Righetti or Righetti-Giorgi, Giorgi being the name of her husband.) Born in Bologna, she also studied and made her debut there in 1814. The following year she created the important role of Rosina in "The Barber of Seville" and in 1817 she was the first
Gioachino Rossini Often whimsical, these pieces display Rossini's natural ease of composition and gift for melody, showing obvious influences of Beethoven and Chopin, with many flashes of the composer's long buried desire for serious, academic composition. They also underpin the fact that Rossini himself was an outstanding pianist whose playing attracted high praise from people such as Franz Liszt, Sigismond Thalberg, Camille Saint-Saëns, and Louis Diémer. He died at the age of 76 from pneumonia at his country house at Passy on Friday, 13 November 1868. He was buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France. In 1887, his remains were moved