Jean Lassalle by Benque

Jean Lassalle (1847-1909); French baritone.
In 1868 he made his debut at Liège as St. Bris in Meyerbeer’s “Les Huguenots”. In the following years he appeared at Lille, Toulouse, The Hague and Brussels and in 1872 he was engaged by the Grand Opéra Paris. He made very successful guest appearances at Covent Garden. He performed in several premières: as Scindia in Massenet’s “Le Roi de Lahore” (1877), as Sévère in Gounod’s “Polyeucte” (1878), as Ben Saïd in Gounod’s “Le tribut de Zamora” (1881), as Malatesta in “Françoise de Rimini” by Ambroise Thomas (1882), as Henri VIII in Gounod’s eponymous opera (1883), as Gunther in Reyer’s “Sigurd” ( 1884), as Benvenuto Cellini in “Ascanio” by Saint-Saëns (1890) and as Rysoor in Paladilhe’s “Patrie !” (1892). In 1892 he performed the role of the High Priest in the Paris-première of “Samson et Dalila” by Saint-Saëns. During the years 1892/98 he performed several seasons at the Metropolitan New York and after returning to Europe he sang three more years at Paris. In 1901 he retired from the stage and became a singing teacher; in 1903 he was appointed a professor at the Conservatoire National de Paris. His son Robert Lassalle (born 1885) was a well known tenor.

On the photo he is seen in his creator role as Henri VIII in the eponymous opera by Saint-Saëns.