Gaetano Braga
1829
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1907
Gaetano Braga was a composer and cellist born on 9th June 1829 in the southern Italian region of Abruzzi. Braga showed an early talent for music and despite it not being his parent’s first choice of career he went to the college of San Pietro a Maiella. He displayed such an incredible talent the director of the college had a cello specifically made for him by Nicola Gagliano the violin maker. Braga began his career as a cellist and performed in Florence, Bologna, Trieste, and Vienna. He then went onto Paris and played compositions by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn. He was a very popular cellist and also a highly sought-after singing teacher by the artists of Theater Italian. Braga played with some of the best performers of that time including Liszt, Gounod, Bizet, Saint Saens, Rubinstein, and Bottesini.