an Italian composer, best known for his operas. His first 25 or so operas were written when Gioachino Rossini dominated the Italian operatic stage. But Pacini's operas were "rather superficial", a fact which, later, he candidly admitted. Later, retiring to Viareggio to found a school of music, Pacini took time to assess the state of opera in Italy. Pacini's style changed, but he quickly became eclipsed by the rising influence of Giuseppe Verdi on the Italian operatic scene, and many of his operas appeared to be old fashioned and rarely, if ever, appeared outside of Italy. Pacini's work is largely forgotten today, although some recordings do exist.
