For a day that comes rarely to the calendar, Google has doodled a rare two-in-one doodle that commemorates not only the leap day but also the 220th birth anniversary of the Italian composer Gioachino Rossini.
Since the leap years and leap days are usually associated with frogs, the leaping ambhibians, the Google doodle on February 29 has a number of frogs, all four of them.
The doodle is inspired by Gioachino Antonio Rossini's famous 1816 comic opera The Barber of Seville (Il barbiere di Siviglia), one of the most performed operas. Of the four frogs in the scene, one is at the piano and the soprano is the only one leaping. The barber frog is Figaro and the frog getting a shave is Count Almaviva (Characters created by French playright Pierre Beaumarchais and The Barber of Seville is one of the three Figaro plays penned by him).
Rossini's other famous operas include William Tell (1829), Semiramide (1823) andCinderella (1817).
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| Young Gioachino Rossini's Photo |
Gioachino Antonio Rossini (Giovacchino Antonio Rossini in the baptismal certificate)(29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who wrote 39 operas as well as sacred music, chamber music, songs, and some instrumental and piano pieces. His best-known operas include the Italian comedies Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) and La Cenerentola and the French-language epics Moïse et Pharaon and Guillaume Tell (William Tell).
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| Gioachino Antonio Rossini Photo |
A tendency for inspired, song-like melodies is evident throughout his scores, which led to the nickname "The Italian Mozart." Until his retirement in 1829, Rossini had been the most popular opera composer in history.
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