François-Adrien Boieldieu

François-Adrien Boieldieu (1775-1834) was a dominant figure in French opera in the early 1800s and one of the primary architects of opéra comique, a uniquely French form of opera alternating arias with spoken dialogue. Starting out as an organist in Rouen, Boieldieu moved to Paris in 1797, meeting with considerable success composing opéra comique, scoring his first huge hit with Le calife de Bagdad (1800). Brokenhearted owing to a failed marriage, from 1803 Boieldieu spent eight years in Russia. Upon returning to Paris, Boieldieu scored again with Jean de Paris (1812); La dame Blanche (1825) was Boieldieu's last, and greatest, success.