Giovanni Paisiello (1740-1816) was an Italian composer, especially important in opera buffa during the late eighteenth century. Born in Taranto, he worked in Naples, Saint Petersburg, Vienna and Paris.

His operas include Il barbiere di Siviglia, written before Rossini’s more famous setting, along with many other comic and serious stage works. He also wrote sacred music, chamber music and keyboard pieces.

Paisiello’s music is graceful, melodic and theatrically clear, with a strong feeling for character and ensemble. He helped shape the comic operatic style inherited by the next generation.

His fame in his own lifetime was enormous, though later history narrowed the field around Rossini and Mozart. Paisiello remains a central figure in the fertile operatic soil from which bel canto grew.