Léon Laffitte
(very often misspelled "Lafitte")
28 January 1875 Saint-Geniès – September 1938 Lamoilage
Armide 1908
Le jongleur de Notre Dame
1901
In RA format
In RA format
In RA format
In RA format
After vocal training at the Conservatoire National in Paris, he made his debut at the Opéra
as David (10 October 1898); he sang at that theater, time and again, until 1924: both Gounod's and Berlioz' Faust, Nicias, Don
Ottavio, Ruodi, both Shahahabarim and Matho in Salammbô, both Tybalt and Roméo, both La Trémoille and Kerloo
in Patrie, Duca, Radames, Cassio, Rodrigue (Le Cid), Raoul, Samson, Fernand, Castor, Canio, Loge, Mime in Siegfried, Lohengrin,
Parsifal, Pedrillo, Lenskij... and lots of roles in now totally forgotten French operas of the day. Many of his creations were
in world or local premieres.
Other than that, he was a member of La Monnaie in Brussels (1905–10: Renaud in Gluck's Armide, Énée, Achille
in Iphigénie en Aulide), and appeared at Covent Garden (1906, Jean in Le jongleur de Notre-Dame and Renaud),
Komische Oper Berlin (1911, Rodolfo), Rio de Janeiro (1916, Faust), Boston (1912–14, Manrico, Hoffmann, Julien, Stolzing,
Haroun in Djamileh, among others), Monte Carlo (1904, world premiere of Pyrame et Thisbé by Édouard
Trémisot), Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires (1916).
He was married to dramatic soprano Jeanne Laffitte-Truck.
Reference 1, reference 2: Kutsch & Riemens, reference 3: La
Monnaie archives
Discography
G&T, Paris, 1901
3750G Sigurd: J'ai gardé mon âme ingénue 32987
3751G Sigurd: Prince du Rhin 32988
3752G Sigurd: Oui, Sigurd est vainqueur 32038
3754G Le roi d'Ys: Vainement, ma bien-aimée 32993
3765G Le prophète: Roi du ciel 32989
624G Manon: Ah fuyez, douce image 32104
626G La Juive: Ta fille en ce moment (w. Paty) 34000
628G Roméo et Juliette: Ah lève-toi, soleil 32098
643G Sigurd: Un souvenir poignant 32093
648G La reine de Saba: Faiblesse de la race humaine 32094
649G Manon: Ah fuyez, douce image 32107
650G La favorite: Un ange, une femme inconnue 32100
Zonophone, Paris, about December 1902
12238 Roméo et Juliette: Ah lève-toi, soleil 12238
12239 Rigoletto: Comme la plume au vent 12239
12270 Paillasse: Ô Colombine 12270
12271 Tannhäuser: Reine d'amour 12271
X-2174 Manon: Ah fuyez, douce image X-2174
X-2175 Faust: Salut, demeure X-2175
X-2177 Les huguenots: Plus blanche X-2177
X-2186 Faust: Mais ce Dieu (w. Baër) X-2186
Black & Silver Columbia, Paris, 1904
50378 Les huguenots: Plus blanche 50378
50379 Rigoletto: Comme la plume au vent 50379
Reference: Gesellschaft für historische Tonträger, Wien
I wish to thank Tom Silverbörg for the recording (Manon).
I wish to thank Christian Torrent for the picture (Armide).
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