Conradin Kreutzer was born near Messkirch in the Principality of Fürstenberg in 1780 and is considered an important representative of early German Romanticism. As a schoolboy, he learnt to play several instruments, but from 1799 he initially studied law at the University of Freiburg at his father's request. After his father's death in 1800, however, he turned his attention entirely to music. In 1804, he moved to Vienna, where he became a composition pupil of Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Beethoven's teacher. Initially working as a piano teacher, he soon received engagements as Kapellmeister, as Danzi's successor in Stuttgart, where he remained until 1816. During this time, he composed several operas. Further positions as Kapellmeister included the court theatre in Donaueschingen and the Kärntnertortheater in Vienna, where he initially remained until 1827. After stays in Paris, he held the position of Kapellmeister in Vienna, alternating between the Vienna Court Opera and the Theatre in der Josefstadt. Many of his operas were composed during this time. In 1840, he left Vienna to travel through Europe with his daughter, who was a soprano, for guest performances. His last stop was Riga, where he worked mainly as a music teacher and died in December 1849 as a result of a stroke.
