A classical musician by training and a conservative by inclination, Rossini, nevertheless, broke the mold of the old Italian operatic order and laid the foundations for a new generation of romantically inspired music-dramatists. One of the most influential of nineteenth-century composers, in touch with many leading musicians of his day, Rossini was also the most complex of men—a mixture of affability and reserve, industry and indolence, wit and melancholy. This detailed biography also includes a survey of Rossini's choral works, and the vocal and solo piano music written during the last decade of his life.