BALFE, MICHAEL WILLIAM

born May 15, 1808, Dublin died Oct. 20, 1870, near Ware, Hertfordshire, Eng. singer and composer, best known for the facile melody and simple vocal effects of his opera The Bohemian Girl. Balfe appeared as a violinist at the age of nine and began composing at about the same time. In 1823 he went to London, where he played in the orchestra at Drury Lane Theatre, and in 1825 was taken to Rome by Count Mazzara, a wealthy patron. Between 1827 and 1833 he sang leading baritone roles in operas by Rossini, Meyerbeer, and others in Paris and Italy. His own early operas were written on Italian librettos and produced at Palermo, Pavia, and Milan between 1829 and 1833, after which he returned to London. His first English opera, The Siege of Rochelle, was produced at Drury Lane in 1835. His popularity was established; in 1838 he sang Papageno in the first English performance of The Magic Flute, and with Le Puits d'amour (Paris, 1843) he began a series of French operas. The Bohemian Girl (Drury Lane, 1843) was the most successful of all his operas and was produced in many countries, in French, German, Italian, and Russian. Two of the ballads from it, When Other Lips and I Dreamt That I Dwelt in Marble Halls, have been published in many arrangements. Balfe produced several other operas in London; essayed managing and conducting with little success; and between 1849 and 1864 travelled in France, Germany, Italy, and Russia.