Scan 13
Groves Dictionary Of Music And Musicians,vol.5 L-m, 1900
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1LABLACHE
3It is said that at Naples he had enjoyed the great advantage of the society and counsels of Mme Méricofre, a banker's wife, known in Italy before her marriage as La Coltellini. To such influence as this, and to that of his intelligent wife, Lablache perhaps owed some of the impulse which prompted him to continue to study; but much must have been due to his own desire for improvement.
5In 1821 the opera 'Elisa e Claudio' was written for him by Mercadante; his position was made, and his reputation spread throughout Europe. From Milan he went to Turin, returned to Milan in 1822, then appeared at Venice and in 1824 in Vienna, and always with the same success. At the last city he received from the enthusiastic inhabitants a gold medal bearing a most flattering inscription. After twelve years' absence he returned to Naples, with the title of singer in the chapel of Ferdinand I and with an engagement at the Teatro San Carlo.
7Although Ebers had endeavoured as early as 1822 to secure him for London, Lablache did not tread the English boards till the season of 1830, when he made his début on 30 Mar. in Cimarosa's 'Matrimonio segreto'. In London, as elsewhere, his success was assured from the moment he sang his first note, almost from the first step he took upon the stage. It is indeed doubtful whether he was greater as a singer or as an actor. His head was noble, his figure very tall, atoning for his bulk, which became immense in later years. He shone as much in comic as in tragic parts.
9Lablache appeared for the first time in Paris on 4 Nov. 1830 as Geronimo in the 'Matrimonio segreto', and there too he was recognized immediately as the first basso cantante of the day. He continued to sing in Paris and London for several years; and it may be mentioned that his terms in 1828 for four months were 40,000 frs. (£1600), with lodging and one benefit night clear of all expenses, the opera and his part in it to be chosen by himself on that occasion, as also at his début.
11In 1833 Lablache sang again at Naples, renewing his triumphs in Donizetti's 'Elisir d'amore' and 'Don Pasquale'. He returned to Paris in 1834, after which he continued to appear annually there and in London, singing at the English provincial festivals as well as at the Opera for many years. In 1836-37 he was Queen Victoria's singing-master, and she more than once expressed the warm esteem in which she held him.1 In 1852 he sang in St. Petersburg with no less success than elsewhere. Whether in comic opera, in the chromatic music of Spohr or in that of Palestrina, he seemed equally at home. He
131 See 'The Letters of Queen Victoria', Vol. I, ed. by A. C. Benson and Viscount Esher (London, 1908).
15sang in Vienna on 3 Apr. 1827 the bass solo part in Mozart's Requiem after the death of Beethoven, as he had, as a child, sung the contralto part at a memorial service for Haydn; and he generously paid Barbaia 200 florins for the operatic singers engaged on that occasion. He was also one of the thirty-two torch-bearers who surrounded Beethoven's coffin at its interment. Schubert dedicated to him his three Italian songs (Op. 83), written to Metastasio's words and composed in 1827, thus showing his appreciation of the great Italian's powers.
17In 1856 Lablache's health began to fail, and he was obliged in the following spring to take the waters at Kissingen, where he was met and treated with honour by Alexander II of Russia. He received the medal and order given by the tsar with the prophetic words "These will do to ornament my coffin". After this he returned for a few days in Aug. to his house at Maisons-Laffitte, near Paris; but left it on the 18th to try the effect of his native climate at his villa at Posilipo. But the air was too keen for him, and he had to take refuge at Naples, prolonging his life only a short while, however. His remains were brought to Paris and buried at Maisons-Laffitte.
19Lablache had many children; one of his daughters married the pianist Thalberg. A 'Méthode de chant', written by Lablache, was published in Paris, but it rather disappointed expectation.
21BIBL.—CASTIL-BLAZE, F. H. J., 'Biographie de Lablache' (Paris, n.d.).
22'Onori alla memoria di Luigi Lablache' (Naples, 1858).
23ORTIGUE, J. D', Article in 'Journal des Débats' (Paris, 24 Feb. 1858).
24See also Tarantella (Rossini's, ? written for L.). Thalberg (son-in-law).
26LABOR, Josef (b. Horovice, 29 June 1842; d. Vienna, 26 Apr. 1924).
27Austrian (Bohemian) pianist, organist and composer. He studied at the Vienna Conservatory. Although blind, he made the most of his considerable gifts and became chamber musician to the King of Hanover in 1863. In 1868 he went to settle in Vienna, where he devoted himself to teaching and composition. He edited Biber's violon sonatas for the D.T.Ö., and among his compositions are church music, a 'Konzertstück' for pianoforte and orchestra, two pianoforte Quintets, a pianoforte Quartet, a pianoforte Trio, a violin and pianoforte Sonata, organ fantasies, pianoforte pieces, etc.
29LA BORDE, Jean Benjamin de (b. Paris, 5 Sept. 1734; d. Paris, 22 July 1794).
30French violinist and composer. He was a pupil of Dauvergne for the violin and of Rameau for composition, and attained great eminence as an amateur composer. He wrote 32 operas, many solo songs and several works
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