he Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution (Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione) is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto (based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville) by Cesare Sterbini. The overture, first written for Aureliano in Palmira[1], is a famous example of Rossini's characteristic Italian style.

The première (under the title Almaviva, or the Useless Precaution) took place on February 20, 1816, at the Teatro Argentina, Rome. It would become the first Italian opera ever performed in America, premiering at the Park Theater in New York on Nov. 29, 1825.