The Barber of Seville

One must imagine Gioacchino Rossini as a hard-working man. In 1810, at just 18 years old, he wrote his first opera. By the age of 20, he was considered Italy's most sought-after opera composer; by his 22nd birthday, he had written 13 operas and was known far beyond Italy's borders. "The Barber of Seville" remains his undisputed masterpiece and rightly belongs to the core operatic repertoire.