Napoleon was intensely enthusiastic about opera. The conquering music lover called for the young Italian star, the contralto Giuseppina Grassini, and the most magnificent castrato: Girolamo...
Nicola Vaccaj belonged to the Neapolitan school: a pupil of Paisiello and contemporary of Rossini, whose fame somehow obscured his own, he was well known and appreciated at his time, to the point...