Born during the Ancien Régime in Rouen, François-Adrien Boieldieu received his musical education first from the choirmaster and then from the organist of the local cathedral.

During the Reign of Terror, Rouen was one of the few towns to maintain a significant musical life and in 1793, a series of concerts was organised that featured the celebrated violinist Pierre Rode and the tenor Pierre-Jean Garat.

It was during this time that Boieldieu composed his earliest works to texts written by his father (La fille coupable in 1793, followed by Rosalie et Mirza in 1795).

At this time, the Opéra-Comique was the only theatre to offer opportunities for the hybrid works of the same name, close to classic opera, but containing spoken dialogue.

The spiritual heir of André Grétry, Boieldieu focused on melodies that avoided too much ornamentation, set to light, but intelligent, orchestration.

Following the breakdown of his marriage to the dancer Clotilde Mafleuroy,[6] he set off for Saint Petersburg in 1804 to take up the post of court composer to the Russian tsar, where he stayed until 1810.

On his return to France he won back Parisian audiences with La jeune femme en colère (1811), Jean de Paris (1812), Le nouveau seigneur du village (1813), and a dozen other works.

In 1825, he produced his operatic masterpiece, La dame blanche (revived in the Salle Favart in 1997 and recorded by the conductor Marc Minkowski).