Émile-Alexandre Taskin, born in Paris on 18 March 1853, and died there on 5 October 1897, was a French operatic baritone mainly active at the Paris

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique () is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular Théâtre de la foire, theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief riva ...

. He was a descendant of the harpsichord maker Pascal Taskin (1723–1793). After singing in church choirs as a child, Taskin studied at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

under Bussine and Ponchard. Having made his debut as a concert singer in 1875 in '' L'enfance du Christ'' by Berlioz, his stage debut was in September 1875 in

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...

, as Roland in ''Les mousquetaires de la reine'' by Halévy. After other engagements in the provinces Taskin was taken on at the Théâtre Lyrique (Salle Ventadour) in 1878, creating Lampourde in ''Le Capitaine Fracasse'' on 2 July 1878. He made his debut at the

as Malipieri in Auber's '' Haydée'' on 9 February the same year, joining the company soon after. He was on-stage singing Lothario in Thomas' '' Mignon'' the night of the fire at the Salle Favart on 25 May 1887, and later received a ''médaille de sauvetage'' (rescue medal); he sang in the 1,000th performance of the opera in that house. His repertoire also covered Count Almaviva (''

The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (, ), 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 premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienn ...

''), Escamillo (''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

''), Ourrias ('' Mireille''), Sulpice ('' La fille du régiment''), Jupiter ('' Philémon et Baucis''), the Tambour-Major (''Le Caïd'' by Thomas), and Père Lorenzo (''Amants de Vérone'' by d'Ivry). Besides ''Le Capitaine Fracasse'' by Pessard, Taskin created roles in '' Jean de Nivelle'' (le Charolais) by Léo Delibes on 8 March 1880, '' Les contes d'Hoffmann'' (Lindorf, Coppelius and Docteur Miracle) by Offenbach on 18 February 1881, '' Manon'' (Lescaut) by Massenet on 19 January 1884, ''Proserpine'' (Squarocca) by Saint-Saëns on 14 March 1887, and ''

Esclarmonde ''Esclarmonde'' () is an opéra () in four acts and eight Tableau vivant, tableaux, with prologue and epilogue, by Jules Massenet, to a French libretto by Alfred Blau and Louis de Gramont, Louis Ferdinand de Gramont. It was first performed at th ...

'' (Phorcas) by Massenet on 14 May 1889.Wolff S. ''Un demi-siècle d'Opéra-Comique (1900–1950).'' André Bonne, Paris, 1953. Taskin sang in the first performance of Debussy's '' L'enfant prodigue'' in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

on 27 July 1884.Noel, Édouard, Stoullig, Edmond. Les Annales du Théâtre et de la Musique, dixième année, 1884. G. Charpentier, Paris, 1885, p. 377. With increasing ill-health he retired from the stage and became a professor at the Conservatoire (opéra comique) on 1 May 1891. He died at his home in the rue de Rome at the age of 44, and was buried at the Cimetière de Saint-Ouen.

References and notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taskin, Emile-Alexandre 1853 births 1897 deaths 19th-century French male opera singers French operatic baritones Burials at Saint-Ouen Cemetery