Luigi Lablache (6 December 1794 – 23 January 1858) was an Italian opera singer of French and Irish heritage. He was most noted for his comic performances, possessing a powerful and agile bass voice, a wide range, and adroit acting skills: Leporello in Don Giovanni was one of his signature roles.
Luigi Lablache was born in Naples, the son of Nicolas Lablache, a merchant from Marseille, France, by an Irish lady. He was educated from 1806 at the Con...
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Luigi Lablache (6 December 1794 – 23 January 1858) was an Italian opera singer of French and Irish heritage. He was most noted for his comic performances, possessing a powerful and agile bass voice, a wide range, and adroit acting skills: Leporello in Don Giovanni was one of his signature roles.
Luigi Lablache was born in Naples, the son of Nicolas Lablache, a merchant from Marseille, France, by an Irish lady. He was educated from 1806 at the Conservatorio della Pietà de' Turchini in Naples, where Gentili taught him the elements of music, and Valesi instructed him in singing, while at the same time he studied the violin and cello. He fled the Conservatorio five times in order to pursue an acting career, but each time he was brough back in diegrace. His voice was a beautiful contralto, and just before it broke he sang the solos in Mozart's Requiem on the death of Joseph Haydn in 1809. From
Before long he became possessed of a magnificent bass, which gradually increased in volume until...
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