When and where did The Barber of Seville first premiere?

The Barber of Seville, a comic opera by Gioachino Rossini, first premiered at the Teatro Argentina in Rome on February 20, 1816.1

At its debut, the work was performed under the title Almaviva o sia l’inutile precauzione (Almaviva; or, The Useless Precaution). The opening night was famously chaotic, as supporters of the composer Giovanni Paisiello—who had previously written an opera based on the same Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais play—disrupted the performance with booing and hissing. Despite this difficult start, the opera quickly became a success and remains one of the most frequently performed works in the operatic repertoire.12