Goggle is celebrating both leap year and the 220th birthday of Italian composer Giochino Rossini with a rare two-in-one doodle. The search engine has replaced its official logo on its home page with a doddle that features four frogs. The doodle is inspired by Rossini’s famous 1816 comic opera, ‘The Barber of Seville,’ one of the most performed and beloved operas in the world.
In the doodle, which is the third leap year doodle in Google’s history, one of the frogs is playing a piano. A soprano frog is singing and leaping next to the piano. Another frog represents the barber, Figaro, while the frog getting a shave is Count Almaviva.
Rossini was born February 29, 1792, in Pesaro, Italy. Some sources say he was the son of the town trumpeter and inspector of slaughterhouses, while others claim he had musical parents who worked in regional theater.
At the age of 20 in 1813, Rossini had gained international fame from his operas. Having found success at an early age, Rossini, who attended the Conservatory at Bologna, was resented by other Italian composers. But Rossini still achieved fame by writing more than 30 operas, sacred music and chamber works. Besides ‘The Barber of Sevill,’ he also wrote the famed ‘William Tell.’
After retiring from music in 1832, Rossini died at the age of 76 from pneumonia on November 13, 1868. He was buried in Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. At the rest of the Italian government, his remains were later moved to the Basilica di Santa Croce di Firenze in Florence.
Written by: Karen Benardello
