Leprestre was born in Paris and trained at the Conservatoire between 1887 and 1890 with the baritone Romain Bussine (1830–1899).
He made his debut in 1890 as Faust at the Théâtre des Arts in Rouen.
Leprestre was then hired by the Monnaie. While there, he took part in the world premiere of Jan Blockx's Maître Martin in November 1892.
He also took part in the local premieres of Werther in January 1893 and L'attaque du moulin (1894).
Leprestre made his debut at the Opéra-Comique in September 1894
as des Grieux with Georgette Bréjean-Gravière.
Leprestre stayed at the Opéra-Comique for four seasons singing
Wilhelm Meister, Vincent, Paul (in Paul et Virginie), Gérald (in Lakmé), Rodolphe (i.e. Alfredo), Nadir, Araquil, Mergy, Lorédan, ...
Leprestre sang in the Opéra-Comique premiere of Ninon de Lenclos by Edmond Missa (1895 and a fiasco for the composer). In 1897,
he sang Georges in La vivandière with Marie Delna. In May 1896, he sang in Le chevalier
d'Harmental (6 performances only). He sang José in 1895 and it was too heavy for him then, resulting in his having to
take time off to recover. Yet he sang the role again in 1898, evidently with success, opposite Nuovina.
Massenet chose Leprestre to partner Emma Calvé in the world premiere of Sapho as Jean Gaussin, which was given on November 27th, 1897.
Leprestre sang the 42 performances of the initial run save one, the
eleventh, on December 29th, 1897 (the day Léon Carvalho died), for which he was replaced by Léon David.
Massenet mentions him briefly as Jean Gassin in his memoirs.
Yet the 1897/98 season, which marked the apex of
Leprestre's career, was also his last at the Opéra-Comique, and the reasons why he left cannot be accounted for.
For the next four seasons Leprestre sang in the French provinces.
He was again in Paris during October 1903 when he took part in the premiere of Lucien Lambert's La flamenca as Torrès, set in Havana,
at the Gaîté-Lyrique in the first season organized by
Émile and Vincent Isola.
Not much is known after that. Four years later, on
July 28th, 1909, Leprestre died of an unspecified disease at the age of 47. He was buried at the cemetery in the northeastern
suburb of Les Lilas.
Reference: Marston Liner notes
