Luigi Cherubini

Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini was an Italian Classical and Romantic composer. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the greatest living composer of his era. Cherubini's operas were heavily praised and interpreted by Rossini. Early years He was born Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini in Florence in 1760. There is uncertainty about his date of birth. Although 14 September is sometimes stated, evidence from baptismal records and Cherubini himself suggests 8 September is correct. Perhaps the strongest evidence is his first name, Maria, which is traditional for a child born on 8 September, the feast-day of the Nativity of the Virgin. His instruction in music began at the age of six with his father, Bartolomeo, maestro al cembalo ("master of the harpsichord", in other words, ensemble leader from the harpsichord). Considered a child prodigy, Cherubini studied counterpoint and dramatic style at an early age. By the time he was thirteen, he had composed several religious works. Adulthood and first operas In 1780, he was awarded a scholarship by the Grand Duke of Tuscany to study music in Bologna and Milan. Cherubini's early opere serie used libretti by Apostolo Zeno, Metastasio (Pietro Trapassi), and others that adhered closely to standard dramatic conventions. His music was strongly influenced by Niccolò Jommelli, Tommaso Traetta, and Antonio Sacchini, who were the leading Italian composers of the day. The first of his two comic works, Lo sposo di tre e marito di nessuna, premiered at a Venetian theatre in November 1783. Feeling constrained by Italian traditions and eager to experiment, Cherubini travelled to London in 1785, where he produced two opere serie and an opera buffa for the King's Theatre. In the same year, he made an excursion to Paris with his friend, the violinist Giovanni Battista Viotti, who presented him to Marie Antoinette and Parisian society.