Wikipedia:Wikifun/Round 14/Answers/Question 9

29 February
I thought this was about animal composers to begin with (see Zoomusicology) but then realised that it was a 29 February question. The most famous musician listed at February 29 is Gioachino Rossini, born 29 February 1792, who wrote his first opera aged 18 (before his "4th birthday" in 1812 - skipping 1800, of course), married in 1822 (before his "7th birthday" in 1824) and retired aged 32 (later in 1824, before his "8th birthday" in 1828). He died on 13 November 1868, less than 9 months after his "18th birthday" earlier that year.

I have no idea about the "North American" chart, but suspect a link to the William Tell Overture and the Lone Ranger. -- ALoan (Talk) 19:09, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

answer
the answer is Gioachino Rossini. on the page for The Barber of Seville, which was one of his famous operas, it lists the opera as the fifth most preformed in North America, on the Opera America page which does that ranking, it is shown as beating out The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart, which is the sixth most preformed. The Barber of Seville is a comedic sequel to the story of The Marriage of Figaro. Amirman 21:24, 10 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Ooh, now what do I do here? ALoan got the right answer - Rossini - but didn't fill in all the gaps. Amirman got the Opera America part (although Le Barbier de Séville was actually the first part of Beaumarchais' trilogy, not the sequel to The Marriage of Figaro). I think 1.5 points to ALoan, 0.5 points to Amirman is fair. --Spondoolicks 21:49, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

Gioachino Rossini as he was born on 2/29 so had only 1 bday per 4 years, retired at 32 (8th) opera at 18(before 4th) etc