Michael Balfe was born into a musical Dublin family on May 15, 1808. He studied violin first with his father and from 1823 in England, under Charles Horn. During the early years of his career Balfe played violin in orchestras and began taking on baritone roles on stage. He pursued further studies in Italy where he continued to perform and began to compose operas. He returned to England in 1833 and scored a success at Drury Lane in 1835 with his opera The Siege of Rochelle. In the 1840s he began dividing his time between London and Paris and collaborated with the great librettist Eugene Scribe. Balfe's greatest success came in 1843 with The Bohemian Girl.
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