![Nicolas-Prosper Levasseur](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Nicolas-Prosper_Levasseur.jpg)
Nicolas Levasseur (9 March 1791 – 7 December 1871) was a French
bass, particularly associated with
Rossini roles.
Born Nicolas-Prosper Levasseur at
Bresles,
Oise
Oise ( ; ; pcd, Oése) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,419 ...
, he studied at the Paris Music Conservatory from 1807 to 1811, with
Pierre-Jean Garat
Pierre-Jean Garat (25 April 1764 – 1 March 1823) was a French Basque singer and nephew of Dominique Joseph Garat. He was born in Ustaritz.
Garat devoted himself from an early age to the cultivation of his musical talents. Because he professed ...
. He made his professional debut at the
Paris Opéra
The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be k ...
in 1813, as Osman Pacha, in ''La caravane du Caire'' by
André Grétry
André Ernest Modeste Grétry (; baptised 11 February 1741; died 24 September 1813) was a
composer from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (present-day Belgium), who worked from 1767 onwards in France and took French nationality. He is most famous ...
. He sang in London at the
King's Theatre from 1815 to 1817, notably as the Count in
Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...
's ''
Le nozze di Figaro
''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...
''. He also sang at
La Scala
La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...
in Milan, from 1820 to 1822, where he took part in the creation of
Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Mozart and Wagner". With his 1831 opera ''Robert le d ...
's ''
Margherita d'Anjou
''Margherita d'Anjou'' is an ''opera semiseria'' in two acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer. The Italian libretto was by Felice Romani after a text based on legends around the English Wars of the Roses by René-Charles Guilbert de Pixérécourt. The title ...
''.
But his greatest successes were at the
Théâtre-Italien in Paris, where he sang from 1819 until 1828. There his name became closely associated with Rossini's operas. He sang in the Paris premieres of
''
Mosè in Egitto
''Mosè in Egitto'' (; "''Moses in Egypt''") is a three-act opera written by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola, which was based on a 1760 play by Francesco Ringhieri, ''L'Osiride''. It premièred on 5 March 1818 a ...
'', ''
Ricciardo e Zoraide
''Ricciardo e Zoraide'' (''Ricciardo and Zoraide'') is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Francesco Berio di Salsa. The text is based on cantos XIV and XV of '' Il Ricciardetto'', an epic poem by Niccolò Forte ...
'', ''
La cenerentola
' ('' Cinderella, or Goodness Triumphant'') is an operatic ''dramma giocoso'' in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the libretti written by Charles-Guillaume Étienne for the opera ''Cendrillon'' ...
'', ''
La donna del lago
''La donna del lago'' (English: ''The Lady of the Lake'') is an opera composed by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola (whose verses are described as "limpid" by one critic) based on the French translationOsborne, Charles 19 ...
'', and he participated in the
creation of ''
Il viaggio a Reims
''Il viaggio a Reims, ossia L'albergo del giglio d'oro'' (''The Journey to Reims, or The Hotel of the Golden Fleur-de-lis'') is an operatic dramma giocoso, originally performed in three acts,Janet Johnson: ''A Lost Masterpiece Recovered'', pp. 37 ...
''.
Levasseur returned to the Paris Opéra in 1827 and remained there until 1853, where he created all the great
basso cantante
A bass is a type of classical male singing voice and has the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', a bass is typically classified as having a vocal range extending from around the second E b ...
roles, notably in operas such as; ''
Le comte Ory
''Le comte Ory'' (''Count Ory'') is a comic opera written by Gioachino Rossini in 1828. Some of the music originates from his opera ''Il viaggio a Reims'' written three years earlier for the coronation of Charles X of France, Charles X. The French ...
'', ''
Guillaume Tell
''William Tell'' (french: Guillaume Tell, link=no; it, Guglielmo Tell, link=no) is a French-language opera in four acts by Italian composer Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Victor-Joseph Étienne de Jouy and L. F. Bis, based on Friedrich Sc ...
'', ''
Robert le diable
''Robert le diable'' (''Robert the Devil'') is an opera in five acts composed by Giacomo Meyerbeer between 1827 and 1831, to a libretto written by Eugène Scribe and Germain Delavigne. ''Robert le diable'' is regarded as one of the first grand o ...
'', ''
La juive'', ''
Les Huguenots
() is an opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer and is one of the most popular and spectacular examples of grand opera. In five acts, to a libretto by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps, it premiered in Paris on 29 February 1836.
Composition history
...
'', ''
La favorite
''La favorite'' (''The Favourite'', sometimes referred to by its Italian title: ''La favorita'') is a grand opera in four acts by Gaetano Donizetti to a French-language libretto by Alphonse Royer and Gustave Vaëz, based on the play ''Le com ...
'', ''
Dom Sebastien'', ''
Le prophète
''Le prophète'' (''The Prophet'') is a grand opera in five acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer, which was premiered in Paris on 16 April 1849. The French-language libretto was by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps, after passages from the ''Essay on the ...
'', etc.
Levasseur was considered peerless in his time, possessing a voice of remarkable beauty and grandeur. He taught at the Paris Conservatory from 1841 until 1870. He also taught privately; among his pupils was
Euphrasie Borghèse.
He died in Paris.
References
Sources
* ''Guide de l’opéra'', Les indispensables de la musique, R. Mancini & J-J. Rouvereux (
Fayard
Fayard (complete name: ''Librairie Arthème Fayard'') is a French Paris-based publishing house established in 1857. Fayard is controlled by Hachette Livre.
In 1999, Éditions Pauvert became part of Fayard. Claude Durand was director of Fayard ...
, 1995).
1791 births
1871 deaths
People from Oise
19th-century French male opera singers
Operatic basses
French basses
Conservatoire de Paris faculty
Conservatoire de Paris alumni
Burials at Montmartre Cemetery
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
{{France-opera-singer-stub