Share your Regondi, I share mine (and watch me roast myself)!

Martin Martin, Regondi was Italian in name only. Although the details of his early life are not well documented, what does seem certain is that he was born in Switzerland, apparently to a German mother, who played no known role in his upbringing. (Did she perhaps die in childbirth?) Thereafter we find him in Lyons, in the care of a certain Sr. Regondi, a language teacher who may or may not have been his actual father. In 1831 the pair relocated to London, where the young prodigy’s talents attracted considerable attention and, no doubt, reward. Soon enough, however, misfortune struck, and the boy found himself abandoned, Sr. Regondi having absconded with whatever earnings his charge’s well-received concerts had brought in. Fortunately, Giulio was taken  under the wing of rather more benevolent caretakers, sufficiently well placed to ensure an introduction to the best social circles. At last he seems to haven found something resembling a family: Britain would remain home to Regondi for the rest of his life. So perhaps this great virtuoso is best described, not as Italian, but as a Swiss-born Englishman!