Lauro Rossi

Lauro Rossi (born in Macerata, 19 February 1810; died in Cremona, 5 May 1885), was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. There is no known connection with Luigi Rossi (1597–1653). Rossi studied in Naples and produced his first opera there. His greatest success was with the comic opera originally entitled La casa disabitata, which was performed for many years in its revised form under the title I falsi monetari. However, Rossi suffered a fiasco in 1835, after which he left Naples for Mexico, then Cuba. There he set up his own opera company, and married its prima donna, Isabella Obermayer. He returned to Italy in 1843 and continued composing, but, thereafter, he was mainly known as an academic figure as director of the Conservatory, first at Milan (1850–1870) and then at Naples (1870–1878). He was commissioned by Giuseppe Verdi, to compose a portion of Messa per Rossini; specifically, Number V. Agnus Dei, for solo Alto. Two of his late operas were also highly successful: La Contessa di Mons and Cleopatra.