Composer, born in Pesaro, Italy. He studied in Bologna, and began to write comic operas. Among his early successes were Tancredi (1813) and L'Italiana in Algeri (1813, The Italian Girl in Algiers), and in 1816 he produced his masterpiece, Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville). As director of the Italian Theatre in Paris (1823), he adapted several of his works to French taste, and wrote Guillaume Tell (1829, William Tell). In 1836 he retired to Bologna and took charge of the Liceo, which he raised to a high position in the world of music. The revolutionary disturbances in 1847 drove him to Florence, and he returned in 1855 to Paris. Later works include his Stabat Mater (1841) and the Petite messe solennelle (1863). His overtures in particular have continued to be highly popular items in concert programmes.