Composers hailing from the now proud Czech Republic were surprisingly numerous in the 18th century and, while far from household names today, had a significant impact on some that are. These Bohemians were neither the free’n’easy chums who kissed tiny frozen hands in garrets nor the future pictorial romantics devoted to the fields and forests of their homeland. No, these guys skipped down the steps of their provincial alma maters straight onto express carriages bound for Austria, Germany or Italy, and never looked back.

Under their Germanified aliases, Franz Xavier Richter and Paul Wranitzky made good in Europe; the first as violinist/composer at the Mannheim court and the latter as Vienna’s most respected conductor (he premiered Beethoven’s 1st). In Venice then Rome, Josef Mysliveček so out-Italianed the Italians in spirited temperament (and libido) that they abandoned efforts to pronounce his surname and dubbed him il divino boemo (the divine bohemian).