ABSTRACT
Georg August Griesinger stated that Sir John Gallini divided responsibility for recruiting a cast of singers with Johann Peter Salomon, visiting Italy himself and leaving his partner to take an itinerary through Germany. In the famous story, however, Salomon's recruitment of Joseph Haydn was a piece of pure serendipity, occasioned by the fact that he had only reached Cologne on his return journey when he heard news of the death of the composer's employer on 28 September. Salomon's associate, the music-seller John Bland, may also have played a role, and it was to his shop at No. 45 Holborn that Haydn was first taken. English historiography thus diverged at an early stage from the version of events recorded by the 'authentic' German Haydn biographers, who acknowledged Gallini's part and emphasized the fortuitous nature of the event. Certainly, Haydn arrived in London expecting to start work immediately on an opera.
