André Mallabrera

Mallabrera was the son of French tenor José Mallabrera (born Oran 5 June 1907). Originally, he learned the trade of a watchmaker, just as his father had done when young; then he studied voice, first with his father, then at the conservatories of Algiers and Paris.

He made his debut as Almaviva at the Opéra-Comique on December 14th, 1958. Almaviva was to become his most important role; he sang it, according to himself, about 250 times, and it was also his farewell from the stage at the Théâtre des Arts in Rouen in December 1988. At the Opéra-Comique, he sang continuously from his debut to 1973; other than Almaviva, he was Wilhelm Meister there, Comte Ory, Nadir, Vincent, Ernesto, Alfred (Fledermaus), Gonzalve (L'heure espagnole), Léndre (Le médecin malgré lui), Pomponnet (La fille de Madame Angot) or Paolino (Il matrimonio segreto); he also sang several comprimario parts. Comprimario only was his fare at the Paris Opéra, where he sang a few times between 1962 and 1972.

After 1973, he sang at the important French provincial theaters as well as abroad (Rome, Bologna, Madrid, Geneva, Monte Carlo...); more and more often in comprimario parts, though. He also sang a lot in operetta and concert. The last of the great French tenors...

Reference 1: Kutsch & Riemens; reference 2 and picture source: www.artlyriquefr.fr (alas defunct)

I wish to thank Jean-Paul Williart for some biographical information.

Many thanks to Matthew Sampson for the Otello recording.