Luigi Cherubini

Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini was born in Italy on either 8 or 14 September 1760, entering the Classical period as it shaded toward Romanticism. He built his reputation on operas and sacred music, works substantial enough that Rossini praised and conducted them, and exacting enough that Beethoven considered Cherubini the finest composer alive. That judgment, from a man not known for generosity, marked the peak of Cherubini's standing. He died in Paris on 15 March 1842, leaving a catalog that once commanded Europe's stages but has since receded into the repertoire's margins.