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
Gioachino Rossini Académie des Beaux-Arts. Prize-winning works were produced by the Société des Concerts, Institut de France, from 1885 to 1911. The bequest sought to reward composers of music which emphasized melody, which Rossini wrote "today is neglected" (""). The prize for librettists was to be given to writers who observed "the laws of morality, which the modern writers completely ignore" (""). The prizes were exclusively for French composers and librettists (""). Rossini was a foreign associate of the institute, Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour and recipient of innumerable orders. Immediately after Rossini's death, Giuseppe Verdi proposed to collaborate with