Year 1842 (MDCCCXLII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar and a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar.

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (Italian pronunciation: [dʒuˈzɛppe ˈverdi]; 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century. His works are frequently performed in opera houses throughout the world and, transcending the boundaries of the genre, some of his themes have long since taken root in popular culture – such as "La donna è mobile" from Rigoletto, "Va, pensiero" (The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves) from Nabucco, "Libiamo ne' lieti calici" (The Drinking Song) from La traviata and the "Grand March" from Aida.

Verdi’s masterworks dominate the standard opera repertoire a century and a half after their composition.

Verdi was born the son of Carlo Giuseppe Verdi and Luigia Uttini in Le Roncole, a village near Busseto, then in the Département Taro which was a part of the First French Empire after the annexation of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza. The baptismal register, on 11 October lists him as being "born yesterday", but since days were often considered to begin at sunset, this could have meant either 9 or 10 October. The next day, he was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church in Latin as Joseph Fortuninus Franciscus. The day after that (Tuesday), Verdi's father took his newborn the three miles to Busseto, where the baby was recorded as Joseph Fortunin François; the clerk wrote in French. "So it happened that for the civil and temporal world Verdi was born a Frenchman."

Marie-Jean-Augustin Vestris, known as Auguste Vestris (27 March 1760 - 5 December 1842) was a French dancer.

Born in Paris as the illegitimate son of Gaëtan Vestris and of Marie Allard, he was dubbed "le dieu de la danse", (The god of dance), a popular title bestowed on the leading male dancer of each generation (previous 'Gods of the Dance' included his father Gaetan). He made his debut in a divertissement "La Cinquantaine" in 1772 and was immediately recognized for his talent. He became a soloist in 1776 and premiere dancer in 1778.

After his retirement he trained many famous dancers of the 19th century including August Bournonville, Marius Petipa, Lucien Petipa, Fanny Elssler, Jules Perrot, and Marie Taglioni. It was with Taglioni in 1835 that he performed a minuet at the age of 75.

Auguste Vestris is not to be confused with his son, Auguste Armand Vestris, who married the English actress Lucia Elizabeth Vestris in 1813. Both Armand and a cousin Charles Vestris were also dancers.

Eli Parish (28 February 1808, Teignmouth, Devonshire, England – 25 January 1849, Vienna) was an English harpist and composer. He changed his name to Elias Parish Alvars, and sometimes used the pseudonym Albert Alvars in his publications.

The baptismal record found at St James’s Church, West Teignmouth, reports: "Eli, son of Joseph and Mary Ann Parish". His father, an organist, voice teacher and book dealer in Teignmouth, gave him his first musical instruction.

Eli gave his first concert in Totnes in 1818. In 1820 he was sent to London to study with Nicolas Bochsa. In 1822 he applied to the Royal Academy of Music, where Bochsa had been appointed harp professor. However, he was not accepted as a student there, probably because of his family’s inability to pay the tuition. (Joseph Parish had to declare bankruptcy in 1818.) In any case, Eli Parish continued his lessons with Bochsa thanks to the help of a local landowner.

After the Dresden concert, Hector Berlioz wrote: "In Dresden, I met the prodigious English harpist Elias Parish Alvars, a name not yet as renowned as it ought to be. He had just come from Vienna. This man is the Liszt of the harp. You cannot conceive all the delicate and powerful effects, the novel touches and unprecedented sonorities, that he manages to produce from an instruments in many respects so limited. His fantasy on Moses (imitated and adapted for the piano with such happy results by Thalberg), his Variations for harmonic notes on the Naiads Chorus from Oberon, and a score of similar taste, delighted me more than I can say…" (Mémoires de Hector Berlioz, Paris, 1903);

Luigi Cherubini (Italian pronunciation: [luˈiːdʒi keruˈbiːni]) (8 or 14 September 1760 – 15 March 1842) was an Italian composer who spent most of his working life in France. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the greatest of his contemporaries.

Cherubini was born Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini in Florence. There is uncertainty about his exact date of birth. Although 14 September is sometimes stated, evidence from baptismal records and Cherubini himself suggests the 8th is correct. Perhaps the strongest evidence is his first name, Maria, which is traditional for a child born on 8 September, feast-day of the Nativity of the Virgin. His instruction in music began at the age of six with his father, Bartolomeo, maestro al cembalo ("Master of the harpsichord" i.e. ensemble leader from the harpsichord). Considered a child prodigy, Cherubini studied counterpoint and dramatic style at an early age. By the time he was thirteen, he had composed several religious works.