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Michael William Balfe (1808–1870) was an Irish composer, best remembered for his operas. Balfe was born in Dublin and grew up on Pitt Street, which was renamed Balfe Street in 1917 in his honour. After moving to Wexford with his family as a child, he began a career as a violinist, moving to London in 1823 after his father's death, later relocating again to Italy and Switzerland, where he married the Hungarian-born singer Lina Roser. Balfe began pursuing an operatic singing career as well as composition, and moved back to London with his family in 1835. In a career spanning more than 40 years, he composed at least 29 operas, almost 250 songs, several cantatas, and other works. He was also a noted conductor, directing Italian opera at Her Majesty's Italian Opera House for seven years, among other conducting posts. His most notable opera is The Bohemian Girl, which continues to be performed. This photograph of Balfe was taken by the studio of the French photographer Nadar; this albumen print was made in 1900.Photograph credit: Nadar; restored by Adam Cuerden

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Meghan Trainor

Title is the debut major-label studio album by American singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor (pictured), released on January 9, 2015. Initially a songwriter for other artists in 2013, Trainor signed with Epic Records the following year and began recording material she co-wrote with Kevin Kadish. They drew influence from retro-styled music as they were tired of chasing radio trends. Title includes "All About That Bass", which reached number one in 58 countries, and two other US Billboard Hot 100 top-10 singles: "Lips Are Movin" and "Like I'm Gonna Lose You". Reviewers criticized the album's repetitiveness and doubted Trainor's longevity, though some appreciated her wit and audacious attitude. It debuted at number one on charts in the US, Canada and the UK, and spent multiple weeks at the summit in Australia and New Zealand. Title was the ninth-best-selling album of 2015 worldwide. It was supported by the 2015 That Bass Tour and MTrain Tour. (This article is part of two featured topics: Title and Meghan Trainor albums.)

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