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This Italian composer was a member of the Scapiliatura movement which attempted to overcome stale conventions without contriving new ones. His predominant genre was opera and early compositions demonstrated his struggle for a sense of theatre. Catalani also discovered that he composed better when confronted with Romantic textual themes rather than Classical. He studied with Magi, an uncle of Puccini, and was exposed to Wagner through his associations. Catalani's contemporaries included Puccini, Toscanini, and Verdi. He was criticized by some of these musicians (Verdi, until he heard his work, and Puccini) and praised by Toscanini. Alfredo Catalani's operas are characterized more by the aura he tried to convey in his music than by any sense of personality development. ~ Keith Johnson