Frogs on Google Doodle mark leap year, composer's birth date

A group of frogs highlighted search giant Google's latest doodle, this time a two-in-one doodle marking Feb. 29 as the "leap day" in 2012, and the 220th birth anniversary of Italian "comic opera" composer Gioachino Rossino.

screenshot of Google's Feb. 29 doodle shows a group of performing frogs to mark the 220th birth anniversary of Italian "comic opera" composer Gioachino Rossino, and of course, the leap year.
Visitors to Google's home page – www.google.com – were treated to the sight of four frogs performing in front of a Google logo.

Those who click on the doodle will be taken to a Google search results page for Gioachino Rossino, including his biography and albums.

An article on IBNLive.com said the doodle is inspired by Rossini's famous 1816 comic opera "The Barber of Seville," 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)," said the article by Soumyadip Choudhury.

As for the leap year, he noted leap years are usually associated with frogs, Choudhury added.

Rossini was born Feb. 29, 1792 in Pesaro, Italy, and died on Nov. 13, 1868.

Britannica said he was particularly noted for his comic operas, including "The Barber of Seville" (1816), "Cinderella" (1817), and "Semiramide (1823)."

Of his later and larger-scale dramatic operas, the most widely heard is "William Tell" (1829), Britannica added.

Rossini was the son of Giuseppe Rossini, an impoverished trumpeter who played in bands and orchestras, and Anna Guidarini, a singer of secondary roles.

He spent his entire childhood in theater, and as a student found it easy to learn to sing and play.

When his voice broke and he was unable to continue singing, Rossini became an accompanist and then a conductor.

He was credited for 35 operas, including La pietra del paragone (The Touchstone, first performed 1812); "Tancredi" (1813); L’Italiana in Algeri (The Italian Girl in Algiers, 1813); Il Turco in Italia (The Turk in Italy, 1814); Elisabetta, regina d’Inghilterra (Elizabeth, Queen of England, 1815); Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville, 1816); La cenerentola (Cinderella, 1817); Armida (1817); La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie, 1817); La donna del lago (The Lady of the Lake, 1819); Semiramide(1823); Le Siège de Corinthe (The Siege of Corinth, 1826); Moïse (Moses, 1827); Guillaume Tell(William Tell, 1829).

Also, he was credited for choral music including Il viaggio a Reims (cantata with ballets, completed 1825); Stabat Mater (1832, revised 1842); Petite messe solennelle (1864).

He was likewise credited for chamber music and songs. 

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