Giuseppe de Begnis dramma semi-serio "I Fuoriusciti di Firenze" on 20 March. The opera received a good review in "Le Moniteur Universel", and the "Journal de Paris" praised Giuseppe for his Uberto and Giuseppina for her Isabella. In due course, by popular demand, Paër expanded Giuseppe's role by adding a scena and an aria expressly for him in Act 1. In the meantime Rossini had been informed that the de Begnises had been secured for "La gazza ladra". The prospects were encouraging and on 5 May the couple sang in Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi's "La pastorella nobile". Positive reviews greeted them during the summer
La pietra del paragone La pietra del paragone La pietra del paragone (The Touchstone) is an opera, or melodramma giocoso, in two acts by Gioachino Rossini, to an original Italian libretto by Luigi Romanelli. "La pietra del paragone" was first performed at La Scala, Milan, on 26 September 1812. It was the composer's first commission from a major opera house and was an instant success, being performed 53 times during its first season. Napoleon's Viceroy in Milan, Eugène de Beauharnais, was so impressed by the opera that he wrote to the Minister of the Interior, "You will kindly arrange for Maestro Joachin Rossini to