Biography
Cesare Pugni was born on 31 May 1802 in Genoa and studied at the Milan Conservatory under, among others, Bonifazio Asioli and Alessandro Rolla. During the 1820s and early 1830s he worked as a violinist at La Scala in Milan, where he also composed his first operas and ballets. After years as a copyist and ghost composer for the Paris Opera, he became official ballet composer at Her Majesty's Theatre in London in 1843, where 'La Esmeralda' was created. In 1850 he moved to St Petersburg, where a post as ballet composer to the Imperial Theatres was created specifically for him. Until his death on 26 January 1870 in St Petersburg, he composed there in close collaboration with choreographers such as Jules Perrot and Marius Petipa, including the score for 'La Fille du pharaon', reportedly completed in just six weeks.
On Stagelog
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