Cesare Sterbini

b. Rome, 1784
d. Rome, January 19, 1831

Cesare Sterbini’s one important contribution to the arts was his libretto for Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. A minor official of the Vatican treasury, Sterbini was fluent in Greek, Latin, French, and German. His first libretto for Rossini was Torvaldo e Dorliska in 1815. Although the libretto for that opera is poorly organized and badly written, the text he produced the following year for Barber is nearly perfect for the sparkling, witty opera buffa. Drawing upon the comic situations and fine structure of Beaumarchais’ original French play, Le barbier de Séville, Sterbini forged a crafty and thoroughly Italianate libretto that inspired some of Rossini’s greatest music.