When Rossi was studying at the Naples Conservatory he was under the tutelage of Zingarelli, Furno and Crescentini. He learned well his trade as both a teacher and composer but for most of his life was an academic. The first opera presented by Rossi was "Le contesse villane" composed in the year of his graduation, 1829. His initial operatic debut was a success. Other important operas that Rossi composed were "I falsi monetari," 1834, and "Il domino nero," 1849. He directed opera companies for presentations in Mexico, 1836, New York and Havana, 1841 and New Orleans, 1842. When he returned to Europe, after convalescing from Yellow Fever, Rossi became the director of the Milan Conservatory and served in this capacity from 1850 until 1870. During these years his compositional production was clearly minimized but Rossi wrote the lucid harmony textbook "Guida ad un corso d'armonia practica orale" in 1858. Following his directorship of the Milan Conservatory, Rossi served the next tens years, 1870 to 1880, as the director of the Naples Conservatory. Academically he encouraged institutional reforms and a revival of the music of Frescobaldi and Janequin. Rossi composed approximately thirty operas and the oratorio "Saul," as well as some works for the church. ~ Keith Johnson, Rovi