Christophe Lacassagne (born 18 August 1964) is a French contemporary baritone. Born in

Tarbes Tarbes (; Gascon: ''Tarba'') is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region of southwestern France. It is the capital of Bigorre and of the Hautes-Pyrénées. It has been a commune since 1790. It was known as ''Turba ...

, Lacassagne began training as an actor at the age of 17 under the direction of Mercedes Tormo at the Théâtre du Matin. He then played for 7 years the classical and contemporary repertoire: Molière, Ionesco, Tardieu, Marivaux... At the same time he pursued university studies in Paris VIII in theatre history of the arts. At the age of 22, he began studying singing with Gérard Chapuis and then in 1989 entered the CNSMD of Paris in Peter GottliebPeter Gottlieb
on data.bnf.fr's class. In 1992, he was hired by Jean-Pierre Brosmann as a member of the

Opéra national de Lyon The Opéra National de Lyon, marketed as Opéra de Lyon during the last decade, is an opera company in Lyon, based and performing mostly at the Opéra Nouvel, an 1831 theater that was modernized and architecturally transformed in 1993. The inaugu ...

troupe. There he made his debut with Papageno in ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a '' Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that in ...

'', Theseus in '' A Midsummer Night's Dream'' and Figaro in '' The Marriage of Figaro''. Since then, he has performed on international stages such as the

Théâtre de la Monnaie The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (french: Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, italic=no, ; nl, Koninklijke Muntschouwburg, italic=no; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National O ...

in Brussels, the Bunkamura in Tokyo and the Teatro Lirico of la Scala in Milan. He works with conductors such as

Kent Nagano Kent George Nagano GOQ, MSM (born November 22, 1951) is an American conductor and opera administrator. Since 2015, he has been Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera and was Music Director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra from 2006 to 202 ...

Peter Eötvös Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

, David Robertson and directors such as Klaus Michael Grüber, Tamas Asscher,

Michel Fau Michel Fau (born 1964) is a French comedian, actor and theatre director. Personal life At 18, he left his hometown for training at French National Academy of Dramatic Arts from 1986 to 1989. He trained with Michel Bouquet, Gerard Desarthe and ...

, Jean-Pierre Vincent, and

Robert Carsen Robert Carsen O.C. (born 23 June 1954) is a Canadian opera director. He was born in Toronto and is the son of philanthropist Walter Carsen. Early steps towards directing From an early age "I became obsessed with the theatre" Carsen states and he ...

. Lacassagne has performed more than fifty lyrical or theatrical roles, including the Count of '' The Marriage of Figaro'', '' Don Giovanni'', Escamillo in '' Carmen'', ''

Falstaff Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays '' Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...

'', Mackie in ''

The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a " play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, '' The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François Villon, with mu ...

'' and ''

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had co ...

''.

References

External links

Lacassagne Christophe
on ForumeOpera
Christophe Lacassagne
on

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

Christoohe Lacassagne
on AllMusic
Personal website

Christophe LACASSAGNE - Germont in ''Traviata''
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Lacassagne, Christophe People from Tarbes 1964 births Living people French operatic baritones Conservatoire de Paris alumni 20th-century French male singers 21st-century French male singers