Émile-Alexandre Taskin

Who was Émile-Alexandre Taskin?

Émile-Alexandre Taskin, born in Paris on 18 March 1853, and died there on 5 October 1897, was a French operatic baritone mainly active at the Paris Opéra-Comique. He was a descendant of the harpsichord maker Pascal Taskin.

After singing in church choirs as a child, Taskin studied at the Conservatoire de Paris under Bussine and Ponchard. Having made his debut in 1875 in L'enfance du Christ by Berlioz, his stage debut was in September 1875 in Amiens, as Roland in Les mousquetaires de la reine by Halévy.

After other engagements in the provinces Taskin was taken on at the Théâtre Lyrique in 1878, creating Lampourde in Le Capitaine Fracasse on 2 July 1878. He made his debut at the Opéra-Comique as Malipieri in Auber's Haydée on 9 February the same year, joining the company soon after. He was on-stage singing Lothario in Thomas' Mignon the night of the fire at the Salle Favart on 25 May 1887, and later received a médaille de sauvetage; he sang in the 1,000th performance of the opera in that house.

His repertoire also covered Count Almaviva, Escamillo, Ourrias, Sulpice, Jupiter, the Tambour-Major, and Père Lorenzo.