The operas of Gioachino Rossini are a feast for the ears and eyes. Due to their diversity, there is something for everyone: Rossini wrote both comic and serious operas based on historical, mythological and biblical material.
Rossini created a total of 39 stage works. That’s INCREDIBLY many, especially when you consider that Rossini stopped composing operas at the age of just 37, opting instead for early retirement 😊
He could afford to do so, however, because Rossini virtually triggered a hype in Europe with his stage works at the beginning of the 19th century.
By the way: Despite his incredible productivity, Rossini was always careful not to overwork himself 😊 For example, he was known for using the same overture for different operas, or even for composing a “new” opera from “old” melodies…Very economical, that man.
Anyway: With 39 completed operas (3 more remained unfinished) Rossini leaves some of his colleagues clearly behind, among them for example Mozart (22) and Puccini (12). Some Rossini operas are still very popular today, for example L’italiana in Algeri, Il barbiere di Siviglia, La Cenerentola and Guillaume Tell.
All 39 Rossini operas can be found in the following list. Further below you will find brief summaries of the plots in one sentence each.
| Title | Work Number | Period of Creation | World Premiere (Date and Place) | Beginner friendliness 0-100 (more on this below) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demetrio e Polibio | GR 1 | 1806 | 18. May 1812 in Rome | 60 |
| La cambiale di matrimonio | GR 2 | 1810 | 3. November 1810 in Venice | 70 |
| L’equivoco stravagante | GR 3 | 1811 | 26. October 1811 in Bologna | 80 |
| L’inganno felice | GR 4 | 1812 | 8. January 1812 in Venice | 50 |
| Ciro in Babilonia | GR 5 | 1812 | 14. March 1812 in Ferrara | 40 |
| La scala di seta | GR 6 | 1812 | 9. May 1812 in Venice | 90 |
| La pietra del paragone | GR 7 | 1812 | 26. September 1812 in Milan | 75 |
| L’occasione fa il ladro | GR 8 | 1812 | 24. November 1812 in Venice | 85 |
| Il signor Bruschino | GR 9 | 1813 | 27. January 1813 in Venice | 95 |
| Tancredi | GR 10 | 1813 | 6. February 1813 in Venice | 65 |
| L’italiana in Algeri | GR 11 | 1813 | 22. May 1813 in Venice | 100 |
| Aureliano in Palmira | GR 12 | 1813 | 26. December 1813 in Milan | 45 |
| Il turco in Italia | GR 13 | 1814 | 14. August 1814 in Milan | 80 |
| Sigismondo | GR 14 | 1814 | 26. December 1814 in Venice | 35 |
| Elisabetta, regina d‘Inghilterra | GR 15 | 1815 | 4. October 1815 in Naples | 55 |
| Torvaldo e Dorliska | GR 16 | 1815 | 26. December 1815 in Rome | 70 |
| Il barbiere di Siviglia | GR 17 | 1816 | 20. February 1816 in Rome | 100 |
| La gazzetta | GR 18 | 1816 | 26. September 1816 in Naples | 75 |
| Otello | GR 19 | 1816 | 4. December 1816 in Naples | 60 |
| La Cenerentola | GR 20 | 1817 | 25. January 1817 in Rome | 95 |
| La gazza ladra | GR 21 | 1817 | 31. May 1817 in Milan | 65 |
| Armida | GR 22 | 1817 | 11. November 1817 in Naples | 50 |
| Adelaide di Borgogna | GR 23 | 1817 | 27. December 1817 in Rome | 45 |
| Mosè in Egitto | GR 24 | 1818 | 5. March 1818 in Naples | 55 |
| Adina | GR 25 | 1818 | 22. June 1826 in Lisbon | 80 |
| Ricciardo e Zoraide | GR 26 | 1818 | 3. December 1818 in Naples | 40 |
| Ermione | GR 27 | 1819 | 27. March 1819 in Naples | 60 |
| Eduardo e Cristina | GR 28 | 1819 | 24. April 1819 in Venice | 40 |
| La donna del lago | GR 29 | 1819 | 24. October 1819 in Naples | 70 |
| Bianca e Falliero | GR 30 | 1819 | 26. December 1819 in Milan | 50 |
| Maometto II | GR 31 | 1820 | 3. December 1820 in Naples | 50 |
| Matilde di Shabran | GR 32 | 1821 | 24. February 1821 in Rome | 60 |
| Zelmira | GR 33 | 1822 | 16. February 1822 in Naples | 45 |
| Semiramide | GR 34 | 1823 | 3. February 1823 in Venice | 65 |
| Il viaggio a Reims | GR 35 | 1825 | 19. June 1825 in Paris | 85 |
| Le siège de Corinthe | GR 36 | 1826 | 9. October 1826 in Paris | 45 |
| Moïse et Pharaon | GR 37 | 1827 | 26. March 1827 in Paris | 55 |
| Le comte Ory | GR 38 | 1828 | 20. August 1828 in Paris | 85 |
| Guillaume Tell | GR 39 | 1829 | 3. August 1829 in Paris | 75 |
| Ugo, re d'Italia | GR 40 | 1829–1832 | unvollendet | |
| Ivanhoé | GR 41 | 1830–1832 | unvollendet | |
| Robert Bruce | GR 42 | 1839–1846 | unvollendet |
Rossini's Operas in 1 Sentence Each
Get to know all of Rossini’s operas at a fast pace – with plot summaries in 1 sentence each!
Additionally, for each opera I indicate how beginner-friendly I think it is. Of course this is subjective, but maybe it will give you some orientation: 0 stands for not at all beginner-friendly, 100 for very beginner-friendly.
Demetrio e Polibio
Two feuding kings reconcile through the love of their children.
Beginner friendliness: 60/100. Uncomplicated plot, but rather unknown.
La cambiale di matrimonio
A rich Englishman wants to marry his daughter to a Canadian, but she loves another man.
Beginner friendliness: 70/100. Funny and short.
L'equivoco stravagante
A young man is mistaken for a woman to protect his lover from her father.
Beginner friendliness: 80/100. Crazy comedy of mistaken identity, but rarely seen.
L'inganno felice
An outcast woman is rescued by a miner and finds her husband again.
Beginner friendliness: 50/100. A touching story, but musically not a top performance by Rossini.
Ciro in Babilonia
The Persian king Cyrus defeats the Babylonian king Belshazzar and frees his wife.
Beginner friendliness: 40/100. A historical drama and, accordingly, quite serious and, unfortunately, a bit lengthy.
La scala di seta
A young woman has a secret ladder of silk to meet her lover.
Beginner friendliness: 90/100. Splashy comedy, lots of charm, lots of wit.
La pietra del paragone
A count tests the loyalty of his friends and mistress with a fake philosopher’s stone.
Beginner friendliness: 75/100. Entertaining satire with some musical gold.
L'occasione fa il ladro
A thief assumes the identity of another man and falls in love with his fiancée.
Beginner friendliness: 85/100. Amusing comedy of mistaken identity with a lot of verve.
Il signor Bruschino
A young man pretends to be the son of an old gentleman in order to marry his mistress.
Beginner friendliness: 95/100. Short, funny and original.
Tancredi
A young knight fights for his homeland and his love against the Saracens.
Beginner friendliness: 65/100. Romantic drama with some successful arias.
L'italiana in Algeri
An Italian woman escapes from the harem of the Algerian Bey and returns to her husband.
Beginner friendliness: 100/100. One of Rossini’s most famous and funniest operas with many comic situations and brilliant musical numbers.
Aureliano in Palmira
Roman Emperor Aurelian conquers the city of Palmyra and spares Queen Zenobia, whom he loves.
Beginner friendliness: 45/100. Historical drama with appropriately complex plot, but great arias.
Il turco in Italia
A bored Italian woman flirts with a Turkish prince who wants to kidnap her, but her husband beats her to it.
Beginner friendliness: 80/100. Splashy comedy with lots of situation comedy and great music.
Sigismondo
A Polish king believes his wife has betrayed him and has her confined to a convent, but she is innocent.
Beginner friendliness: 35/100. One of Rossini’s dark operas.
Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra
English Queen Elizabeth I must choose between her love for an earl and her duty as a ruler.
Beginner friendliness: 55/100. Historical drama in which the plot often doesn’t quite get off the ground, but the arias are worth hearing.
Torvaldo e Dorliska
A young couple flees a tyrannical duke and finds refuge with a forester.
Beginner friendliness: 70/100. A romantic drama, but it has some comic elements and is musically diverse.
Il barbiere di Siviglia
A shrewd barber helps a count capture his mistress, who is guarded by her guardian.
Beginner friendliness: 100/100. Rossini’s milestone opera – famous, funny, with many familiar tunes.
La gazzetta
A rich merchant chooses a wife for his daughter from a newspaper, but she already has a secret lover.
Beginner friendliness: 75/100. Comedy with some original scenes.
Otello
The Moorish general Othello is made jealous by his ensign and kills his wife Desdemona out of false suspicion.
Beginner friendliness: 60/100. Tragic and dramatic, yet in places quite far from Shakespeare’s original.
La Cenerentola
A poor maid is mistreated by her stepfather and stepsisters, but she marries a prince with the help of a wise old man.
Beginner friendliness: 95/100. Comedy with lots of charm and great music.
La gazza ladra
A young maid is accused of stealing a silver spoon and sentenced to death, but she is saved by a thieving magpie.
Beginner friendliness: 65/100. Very diverse – touching moments, funny and serious scenes, and some musical highlights make an interesting combination.
Armida
A magical princess seduces a crusader and keeps him prisoner in her palace, but he is freed by his comrades.
Beginner friendliness: 50/100. The plot is quite complex, but there are some virtuoso arias.
Adelaide di Borgogna
The Italian queen Adelaide is besieged by a German emperor and rescued by a French king.
Beginner friendliness: 45/100. The plot is rather lacking in tension, but there are some musical highlights in the arias.
Mosè in Egitto
The biblical prophet Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt and parts the Red Sea.
Beginner friendliness: 55/100. Religious drama with some impressive choral numbers, but you have to work through lengthy recitatives to get there 😉
Adina
In this “spin-off” of Il barbiere di Siviglia, a barber helps a young woman marry her lover by tricking a rich Turk.
Beginner friendliness: 80/100. Funny comedy with a happy twist.
Ricciardo e Zoraide
An African king kidnaps a princess and is challenged by her lover.
Beginner friendliness: 40/100. Exotic, in places cruel drama with virtuoso arias.
Ermione
The Greek princess Hermione loves the Trojan prince Pyrrhus, but he loves the Trojan princess Andromache.
Beginner friendliness: 60/100. Tragic drama with some musical highlights.
Eduardo e Cristina
A Swedish prince secretly marries a Norwegian princess and must stand up to his father and rival.
Beginner friendliness: 40/100. A tremendous conflict depicted in impressive music.
La donna del lago
A Scottish lady loves a highlander who turns out to be the Scottish King James V.
Beginner friendliness: 70/100. Romantic drama with lots of charm and a happy twist.
Bianca e Falliero
A Venetian noblewoman and a Genoese admiral love each other, but are opposed by their families and must defend themselves before the Senate.
Beginner friendliness: 50/100. Serious plot laced with lots of intrigue and betrayal, but also some virtuoso arias.
Maometto II
The Turkish Sultan Mehmed II conquers the Venetian city of Negroponte and falls in love with the governor’s daughter.
Beginner friendliness: 50/100. Historical drama with lots of war and death and musically impressive scenes.
Matilde di Shabran
A brave and clever woman conquers the heart of a misanthropic count, who first captures her and then wants to marry her.
Beginner friendliness: 60/100. This Rossini opera can probably be called a “tragicomedy.”
Zelmira
An Illyrian royal is pursued by a usurper and defends her kingdom and her son.
Beginner friendliness: 45/100. Heroic drama with intrigue and betrayal.
Semiramid
Babylonian queen Semiramis loves a young man who turns out to be her son (pheeeewww…).
Beginner friendliness: 65/100. Tragic in a spectacular way.
Il viaggio a Reims
A motley group of travelers meet at an inn on their way to the coronation of Karl X in Reims.
Beginner friendliness: 85/100. Comedy in refreshing (pun intended) setting.
Le siège de Corinthe
The Greek city of Corinth is besieged by the Turks and defends itself heroically to the bitter end.
Beginner friendliness: 45/100. Spectacular historical drama.
Moïse et Pharaon
Biblical prophet Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt and parts the Red Sea, while Pharaoh loses his daughter to an Israelite prince.
Beginner friendliness: 55/100. Religious drama with some impressive choral numbers, but you have to work through lengthy recitatives to get there 😉
Le comte Ory
A lecherous count disguises himself as a nun to seduce a countess, but is unmasked by his rival.
Beginner friendliness: 85/100. Lots of wit and brilliant music.
Guillaume Tell
Swiss hero William Tell fights against Austrian occupation and liberates his country.
Beginner friendliness: 75/100. Patriotic drama with famous music with a somewhat complicated plot, though.
Jonathan Stark – Conductor
Hello! I'm Jonathan Stark. As a conductor, it is important to me that visits to concerts and operas leave a lasting impression on the audience. Background knowledge helps to achieve this. That's why I blog here about key works of classical music, about composers, about opera and much more that happens in the exciting world of music.
Thank you so much for this informative Series! Love your witty comments next to the Beginner friendliness score. (Or BFS :))