Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (; 29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who wrote 39 operas as well as some sacred music, songs, chamber music, and piano pieces. He was a precocious composer of operas, and he made his debut at age 18 with "La cambiale di matrimonio". His best-known operas include the Italian comedies "The Barber of Seville" ("Il barbiere di Siviglia"), "The Italian Girl in Algiers" ("L'italiana in Algeri"), and "Cinderella" ("La Cenerentola"). He also wrote a string of serious operas in Italian, including works such as "Tancredi", "Otello", and "Semiramide". "The Thieving
Armida (Rossini) Armida (Rossini) Armida is an opera in three acts by Italian composer Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto ("dramma per musica") by Giovanni Schmidt, based on scenes from "Gerusalemme liberata" by Torquato Tasso. "Armida" was written to be performed at the Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, on 11 November 1817 to celebrate the opening of the rebuilt opera house, which had been destroyed by fire the previous year. Isabella Colbran sang the title role, which is one of the longest and most demanding that Rossini wrote, with difficult coloratura passages of every kind during the entire opera. The most notable