Rossini was an Italian composer who wrote more than 30 operas as well as sacred music and piano pieces. The son of musicians, he began composing at age 12 and entered Bologna’s conservatory just two years later. Into the genteel atmosphere of lingering 18th-century operatic manners, Rossini brought genuine originality marked by rude wit and humor and a willingness to sacrifice all “rules” of musical and operatic decorum. For what two masterpiece operas is he best known? Discuss