Michael William Balfe

[1] His musical gifts became apparent at an early age, and he received instruction from his father, a dancing master and violinist, and from the composer William Rooke.

In 1817, he appeared as a violinist in public, and in this year composed a ballad, first called "Young Fanny" and afterwards, when sung in Paul Pry by Madame Vestris, "The Lovers' Mistake".

In 1823, upon his father's death, the teenaged Balfe moved to London and was engaged as a violinist in the orchestra of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

Balfe wrote another opera, Un avvertimento ai gelosi, at Pavia, and Enrico Quarto at Milan, where he had been engaged to sing in Rossini's Otello with Malibran at La Scala in 1834.

An unpopular attempt at "improving" Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera Il crociato in Egitto by interpolating music of his own compelled Balfe to throw up his engagement at the theatre La Fenice in Venice.

The production starred his friends Luigi Lablache (bass) in the title role, Giulia Grisi (soprano), Giovanni Battista Rubini (tenor), and Antonio Tamburini (baritone).

He then moved to Paris, presenting Le Puits d'amour (1843) in early 1843, followed by his opera based on Les quatre fils Aymon (1844) for the Opéra-Comique (also popular in German-speaking countries for many years as Die vier Haimonskinder) and L'étoile de Seville (1845) for the Opéra.

[7] Meanwhile, in 1843, Balfe returned to London, where he produced his most successful work, The Bohemian Girl, on 27 November 1843 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

[6] From 1846 to 1852, Balfe was appointed musical director and principal conductor for the Italian Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre,[8] with Max Maretzek as his assistant.

[6] In 1851, in anticipation of The Great Exhibition in London, Balfe composed an innovative cantata, Inno Delle Nazioni, sung by nine female singers, each representing a country.

He continued to compose new operas in English, including The Armourer of Nantes (1863), and wrote hundreds of songs, such as "When Other Hearts", "I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls" (from The Bohemian Girl), "Come Into the Garden, Maud", "Killarney", and "Excelsior" (a setting of the poem by Longfellow).