Francesco Bianchi

Giuseppe Francesco Bianchi was an Italian opera composer of the Classical era. Born in Cremona, Lombardy, he studied with Pasquale Cafaro and Niccolò Jommelli, and worked mainly in London, Paris, and the Italian operatic centres of Venice, Naples, Rome, Milan, Turin, and Florence. He was the maestro al cembalo at the Comédie-Italienne in Paris between 1775 and 1778. He later served as the deputy chapel master maestro di capella at the Milan Cathedral between 1782 and 1793. Concurrently, he was an organist at St. Mark's Basilica in Venice between 1785 and 1791, then was centered in Venice as the organist there between 1792 and 1797. His connections with London began in 1794, and he was also the director of the theatres in Dublin between 1798 and 1802. From his time, except for occasional travel to the continent, mainly to Paris, up to 1807, he was centered in or near London for the remainder of his life.