Michael William Balfe (Dublin, 1808—Hertfordshire, England, 1870) came from a musical background, his father being a dancing master who gave classes in Dublin and Wexford. Michael Balfe’s musical gifts were already apparent at an early age. He gave his first concert as a soloist at the Rotunda Concert Rooms in central Dublin in 1817 at age nine. He continued to perform in concerts over the next few years. He had his first song, The Lover's Mistake, published in Dublin in 1822. Eager to learn and gain professional status, Balfe was drawn to London where there was more opportunity for him. The catalyst came in 1823, when his father died, putting pressure on the young Balfe to bring money into the household for his mother and sisters. Fortunately, Balfe never lacked confidence or self-assurance. In that same year, aged just 15 years, Balfe thus went to the capital of the British Empire, where he initially studied music with C.F. Horn, a teacher and organist at St. Georges Chapel Royale at Windsor. He also managed to get himself engaged as a violinist at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, where the orchestra was directed by fellow Dubliner, Thomas S. Cooke. He gave his first solo concerts at Drury Lane Theatre on March 19, 1823. Balfe quickly began to take on new challenges as a vocalist, but without much success. Having gained the patronage of a visiting Italian nobleman, the Count Mazzara, Balfe decided to move to Rome in 1825  for vocal study and musical composition.

The young Irishman’s first substantial stay on mainland Europe was in Paris in early 1827, when the Italian composer Luigi Cherubini—whom Balfe had already met in the French capital on his way down to Rome in late 1825—introduced him to the renowned composer Gioachino Rossini. Balfe played and sung for Rossini at the latter’s home at the Hôtel Ronseray at 10-12, Boulevard Montmartre (9th arrondissement, building no longer exists). Rossini was so impressed by Balfe’s performance that he promised to advance the Irishman’s career as long as he underwent further vocal training. Thus it was that after more singing lessons, Balfe, then aged just 19, landed the role of Figaro in a production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville at the Comédie Italienne, debuting in January 1828. (The Comédie Italienne where Balfe performed on rue Favart (2nd arrondissement) burned down in 1838. Renamed the Opéra Comique, it went up in flames again during a performance in May 1887, with the loss of 400 lives. The present incarnation of the Opéra Comique was built in 1894-1898).