Adalbert Gyrowetz was a Bohemian composer and conductor known for his string quartets and symphonies. During his time as the kapellmeister at the Vienna court theater, he was famous for his operas and ballets. He was born in 1763, in České Budějovice, a city in the South-eastern Czech Republic. His first musical instruction came in the form of violin and singing lessons from his father, who was the chorusmaster at the local cathedral. Later, he studied the organ and figured bass with Haparnorsky, a church organist who likely worked with Gyrowetz's father. In the late 1770s he studied law and music in Prague, but was unable to finish his schooling due to financial limitations. To support himself, he found employment in Brno as a secretary for Count Franz von Fünfkirchen. With the Count's support and encouragement, Gyrowetz began composing the first of his symphonies. Around 1785, he visited Vienna, where he met and befriended Haydn, Dittersdorf, and Mozart. Two years later, he traveled to Italy and stayed in Naples, where he studied with Giovanni Paisiello and Nichola Sala. In 1789 he moved to Paris and discovered that some of his early string quartets and symphonies had been published under Haydn's name, because the works had a close resemblance to Haydn's style. This also proved to Gyrowetz that there was a huge demand for his compositions, which encouraged him even further. At the beginning of the French Revolution, he escaped to London, where he found almost immediate success as a composer and developed connections in the wealthiest of circles. He also helped Haydn get established on his trip to London in 1791.The next year, he returned to Bohemia so he could recover from some health problems and he continued composing. By 1804 he had relocated to Vienna where he began an appointment as a Kapellmeister for the court theater. His responsibilities in this position were very demanding, as he was required to compose an opera and a ballet every year. In this capacity, he composed the opera Agnes Sorel in 1806, which was so popular and successful that it received over 120 performances in Vienna over the next ten years. Outside of Vienna, the opera swept through Europe with translations in Danish, German, Hungarian, and Polish. Some of his other successful works from this period include the singspiel Der Augenarzt, and operatic works Robert oder Die Prufung and Il Finto Stanislao. In 1818, one of his piano concertos was performed by a very young Frederic Chopin in his debut as a soloist. Gyrowetz eventually retired in 1831 and spent his final years in Vienna, where he died in 1850. ~ RJ Lambert, Rovi