Nicolas Levasseur by Petit

Nicolas-Prosper Levasseur (1791-1871); French bass who created the role of Walter Fürst at the première of Rossini's "Guillaume Tell" on 3 August 1829 (Grand-Opéra Paris, Salle le Peletier).

After vocal studies (1807-1811) at the Conservatoire National Paris, he made his debut in 1813 at the Grand-Opéra Paris as Osman Pascha in Grétry's "La caravane du Caïre". From 1815-1817 he was engaged at the King's Theatre London. From 1819-1827 he made a great career at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris and from 1828-1853 he belonged to the most prominent singers of the Grand-Opéra. He sang at numerous premières and the most known are: Don Alvaro in Rossini's "Il viaggio a Reims" (1825), Moïse in Rossini's "Moïse et Pharaon" (1827), the tutor in Rossini's "Le Comte Ory" (1828), Walter Fürst in Rossini's "Guillaume Tell" (1829), Bertram in Meyerbeer's "Robert le Diable" (1831), Cardinal of Brogni in Halévy's "La Juive" (1835), Marcel in Meyerbeer's "Les Huguenots" (1836), Spadoni in Niedermeyer's "Stradella" (1837), Rodolphe in Auber's "Le lac des fées" (1839), Balthazar in Donizetti's "La Favorita" (1840), Zacharie in Meyerbeer's "Le Prophète" (1849), Dom Juam in Donizetti's "Dom Sébastien" (1843) and Raymond in Halévy's "Charles VI" (1843). In 1853 he retired from the stage and was awarded with the "Légion d'honneur". He was considered peerless in his time, possessing a voice of remarkable beauty and grandeur. He taught at the Paris Conservatory from 1841 until 1870.