Born in Florence, Cherubini revealed his musical gifts early; by the age of 18 be had written 35 compositions, including a cantata performed in the cathedral of Florence to honour the future emperor Leopold II. Suitably impressed, Leopold granted funds for the young composer to study in Milan under the leading opera composer Giuseppe Sarti.
Cherubim's first opera, Quinto Fabio, was performed in 1780 but met with little response. He set his sights on London, and wrote La finta principessa in 1 785 and Giulio Sabino in 1786 for the King's Theatre, earning the respect of both the intelligentsia and the English royal circle. While the theatre was in summer recess, he visited Paris, where he was presented to the French queen, Mane Antoinette. He settled in the city and with the librettist Marmontel created his first French opera, Demophonperformed in December 1788 without great success.
Over the next few years Cherubini conducted a number of operas for an Italian opera company in Pans started by the queen's hairdresser. He introduced changes to the orchestra and intensified the dramatic action, mirroring the temperament of a society in the throes of revolution. The theatre group broke up in 1792 and Cherubim spent the next year in the Normandy countryside working on Eliza.
Returning to an ever more turbulent Paris, Cherubim was eventually offered a post at the newly established Institut National de Musique, which two years later became the Conservatoire. He wrote several more operas, including in 1797 Medee, based on the myth of Medea, who after rejection by Jason murdered her own children. The main focus of the opera is the psychological torment of Medea, who dominates the stage in a display notable for the huge range, both in pitch and dynamics, of her vocal part.
Relations with Napoleon soured, however, when the Emperor found fault with one of Cherubini's compositions. Cherubim's retort - "Your Majesty knows no more about it than I about a battle" -resultedin his losing his official post. Temporarily abandoning music, he retired to the chateau of the Prince of Chimay, where he studied painting and botany. However, the local church's need for a new Mass tempted him to begin composing again, and the resultant Mass was a resounding success. In 1822 he became director of the revitalized Conservatoire, a post he held for almost 20 years. After 1835. when he composed another Requiem, Cherubim concentrated on teaching, his pupils including Halevy and Auber. He died in 1842.
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