Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868) was a great Italian composer, an opera reformer, and a recognized master of the bel canto style.

For the incredible lightness, joyfulness, and enchanting melodiousness of his music, contemporaries enthusiastically called him "the sun of Italy." The bright, sparkling talent of the maestro changed the history of world theatre forever.

In a meteoric career spanning less than twenty years, the composer created 39 operas that instantly conquered Europe's major stages – from Venice and Milan to Naples and Paris. His trademark was an astonishing speed of work: he composed his main masterpiece, the sparkling comic opera The Barber of Seville (1816), in less than three weeks. Among the master's other great achievements are the deeply dramatic Otello (1816) and the fairytale La Cenerentola (Cinderella, 1817).

In 1829, at the peak of his global fame following the grand success of the historical opera William Tell, the 37-year-old Rossini abruptly and permanently stopped writing for the theatre. The reasons behind this decision remain one of the greatest mysteries in music history. For the rest of his days, the maestro composed only minor sacred and chamber works, engaged in teaching, and successfully led the Bologna Lyceum. Today, Gioachino Rossini's music continues to resonate on the world's major opera stages, bringing audiences the very same sparkling joy of life that filled every day of the maestro himself.

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