Time-line: 1851-1870

Cantata – Inno Delle Nazioni  – (London 1851) In London in 1851 Balfe composed an extraordinary Cantata titled, Inno Delle Nazioni - Onore alla Gran Bretagna in which the nine (9) vocal parts were sung by nine leading females singers each representing a country! 

The Composer in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Vienna and Trieste

The years 1852-53 saw Balfe travel to Danzig to visit his eldest daughter Louisa (Balfe) Behrens and her family after which he traveled by coach to St. Petersburg in Russia for concerts. The Italian Opera season was in session and Balfe met many of his friends such as the great tenor Mario, Pauline Viardot and Luigi Lablache. He later went on to Moscow for more concerts, after which he returned to Danzig for a rest before going on to Vienna to direct a German version of his opera Keolanthe. In 1854 he went to Trieste to premiere La Zingara the Italian version of The Bohemian Girl and to compose a new opera Pittore e Duca for Trieste.  He also returned to Russia in the 1860’s.  

New York – The Academy of Music – 1854 Strangely, Balfe never visited America, although there were strong rumors circulating in New York in 1854-5 that the composer was to become the Director of the Academy of Music. However, nothing came of it. Balfe’s friend the operatic impresario, ’Max Maretzek wrote extensively about it in his memoirs which were published in 1855. However, Balfe very much wanted to visit. Because of his asthma he felt he could not make the long journey.

Balfe’s personal side

Marriage Balfe was married for 39 years to Lina Roser-Balfe. She survived him by 18 years. They were probably married in Bergamo in 1831. They had two sons and two daughters. The younger son, Edward died in infancy. The other son named Michael William Jr., survived his parents by many years spending his life in London and New York.

Balfe’s Wife – Lina (Magdalena) Roser Balfe (1806–1888) – also an important singer Balfe’s wife Lina was born in Budapest (Pest), Hungary of Austrian parents in 1808, where her father, Franz Roser was working as a musician, theatre manager and composer. Lina studied music and singing in Vienna and later in Milan, where she was a pupil one of Mozart’s sons, Karl Thomas Mozart (1784-1858). Lina a soprano, was an excellent singer, performing in Milan from around 1829 and afterwards in Venice, Bergamo, Parma, and elsewhere in Italy in the 1830s.  She sang leading roles opposite such important vocalists as, Giuditta Pasta, Giovanni Battista Rubini, Maria Malibran, Domenico Donzelli, Giorgio Ronconi and others. 

Daughter - Louisa Balfe-Behrend (1832-1869) Composer Balfe’s first daughter Louisa (Gigia), was born in Italy (probably in Milan) in 1832. In 1850 she married a well established Danzig merchant 28 year old Maximiliam Behrend in London in 1850, and lived in Danzig and Berlin, before the family eventually moved to England around 1857.  Louisa Behrend-Balfe died in London in 1869. Balfe was in Paris at the time, working on the French version of The Bohemian Girl.  In order to be with his family during this difficult time Balfe made a rapid return from Paris, where he was involved with reworking the opera for a revised production for Paris, titled, La Bohemienne. However, shortly after his daughter’s funeral, he returned to Paris to continue working on his opera, which was produced in December 1869. There were eight children from the Louisa Balfe, Max Behrend marriage.   

Son – Michael W. Balfe Jr. (1836(?) -1915) Balfe’s son who was born in London around 1836, was not successful in his efforts to follow in his father’s footsteps as a composer. He married in London to a Nora McGlin, a Builder’s daughter, and they had a daughter, Maud Lina.  He later spent time in New York where he went with his wife and young daughter. Their family grew, they had another daughter and two sons in New York. 

Daughter – Victoire Balfe-de Frias(1837-1871) Balfe’s youngest daughter, Victoire (shown here circa 1861) was born in Paris in September, 1837. She studied singing with her father and with the noted teacher Manuel Garcia in London.  She had a successful career as a soprano in London, Dublin, Paris, Turin and Milan. While on a visit to Russia with her father she met the eccentric British Ambassador, 55 year old, Sir John F. Crampton whom she married in  St. Petersburg on 31 March, 1860. However, a court order issued in London in November, 1863 formerly terminated it. Subsequently, she re-married after a Papal dispensation was received in September 1864, this time to someone her own age, the 29 year old Duke deFrias, of Burgos, a Spanish nobleman then residing in Madrid. She died in Madrid in January, 1871.  She is possibly buried in the family vault at Burgos, Spain. There were three children from this marriage, the last of whom died in 1936.

Balfe Dies at his Home, Rowney Abbey, Herts. (outside London) October 1870 Michael W. Balfe 1808-1870.