BALFE, Michael William
b Dublin, 15 May 1808
d Rowney Abbey, Hertfordshire, 20 October 1870, aged sixty-two

Both sides of his family had connections with music and the stage. He was taught violin and piano by his father. In 1823 he left Dublin for London and played violin in the Drury Lane Theatre orchestra. In 1824, aged sixteen, he was taken up by an Italian nobleman and sent to Rome to study. Travelling via Paris, he met Cherubini, who later introduced him to Rossini. He studied singing and had a successful operatic career in Italy from 1830 to 1834, then returned to London. He wrote operas there for the rest of his life, his Bohemian Girl (Drury Lane 1843)
being an enormous popular success.
1829 (21)
I rivali de se stesso, opera
1830 (22)
Un avvertimento ai gelosi, opera
1833 (25)
Enrico IV al Passo della Marna, opera
1835 (27)
The Siege of Rochelle, opera
1836 (28)
The Maid of Artois, opera (based on Manon Lescaut)
1837 (29)
Catherine Grey, opera
Joan of Arc, opera
1838 (30)
Falstaff, opera
Diadeste, opera
1841 (33)
Keolanthe, opera
1843 (35)
The Bohemian Girl, opera
Geraldine, opera
1844 (36)
The Castle of Aymon, opera
Daughter of St Mark, opera
1845 (37)
The Enchantress, opera
1846 (38)
The Bondman, opera
1847 (39)
The Maid of Honour, opera
1852 (44)
The Devil's in it, opera
The Sicilian Bride, opera
1857 (49)
The Rose of Castille, opera
1860 (52)
Bianca, opera
1861 (53)
The Puritan's Daughter, opera
1863 (55)
The Armourer of Nantes, opera
Blanche de Nevers, opera
1864 (56)
The Sleeping Queen, opera
Performed posthumously: 1874 Il Talismano, opera