Giachinno Antonio Rossini (1792 - 1868) was one of the most
significant and influential composers of the 19th century.

His first opera, the one-act comedy La cambiale di Matrimonio
(The Bill of Marriage) was given in venice in 1810.

In 1815 he became musical director of the Teatro San Carlo and Teatro del Fondo in Naples, comprising two of his most acclaimed works, the comic operas il Barbiere de siviglia
(Rome, 1816) and La Cenerentola (Cinderella - Rome, 1817).

In 1824, Rossini assumed the directorship of the Theatre Italien in Paris, where he conceived
his last, and 39th, work for the stage, Guillaume Tell (1892), a magnificent grand opera which set a
landmark in the whole history of romantic opera.

In the ensuing 39 years of his life, notably as a renowned gourmet and raconteur in Italy and
Paris, where his dinner parties and musical evenings were a great attraction. He lent his name to the dish Tournedos Rossini, which is now famed the world over.