AllMovie

Filmmaker Colin Nears examines the life and career of Italian opera composer Gioacchino Rossini in this documentary that ponders, among other things, the reasons why the prolific author of such beloved comic operas as The Barber of Seville suddenly gave up writing at the age of thirty-seven. By placing the writer's career against the backdrop of historical events that were unfolding in Italy at the time and using extensive performance excerpts from both popular and lesser-known works, Nears offers a comprehensive portrait of the artist who seemed to have plenty of good years ahead when he suddenly retired.