A Musical Italy: Michael W. Balfe’s Italian Experiences

The Dublin-born musician, Michael W. Balfe, was a singer, composerand conductor whose brilliant musical career was heavily influenced byformative experiences in Italy. In 1825, Balfe, interested in broadeninghis musical studies first went to Paris where he was introduced to thegreat composers, Luigi Cherubini and Gioachino Rossini, who took apersonal interest in him and his musical talents. On the advice of Rossinihe spent the next few years in Italy studying singing with the famousRossini singer, Filippo Galli, and taking music composition lessonsfrom Ferdinando Paer, in Rome. Later in Milan he studied harmonyand counterpoint with Vincenzo Federici. By 1831, when he was only23 years old, his first three operas had been produced in Palermo, Pavia,and Milan. He returned to London in August 1835, participatingwith the great Lablache, Tamburini, Rubini and Grisi in a concert inVauxhall Gardens. In 1834 he made his debut at La Scala, Milan, singingopposite the renowned mezzo-soprano, Maria Malibran in Rossini’sOtello. He appeared again with Malibran in Venice early in 1835,singing once more in Rossini and Bellini operas. Balfe worked as a singerand composer throughout the Italian peninsula/states during the years,1825-1835 and this article will chart these experiences and demonstratehow the time he spent in Italy and the people he met, influenced hislife and later career as an important and popular European composer.