Sterbini, the librettist for Rossini's version of The Barber of Seville, was an official of the Vatican treasury and fluent in Greek, Latin, French and German, and he had previously had several unsuccessful works. While his text for the opera owed much to Beaumarchais and the librettist for Paisiello's version of the story (Petroselli), it is to Sterbini's final version, especially his "Flawless Almaviva", that the success of Rossini's opera is largely due. However, after Barber, Sterbini produced little of value.

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Revised June 2010
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