Émile-Alexandre Taskin

After singing in church choirs as a child, Taskin studied at the Conservatoire de Paris under Bussine and Ponchard.

[1] After other engagements in the provinces Taskin was taken on at the Théâtre Lyrique (Salle Ventadour) in 1878, creating Lampourde in Le Capitaine Fracasse on 2 July 1878.

[2] 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 (rescue medal);[3] he sang in the 1,000th performance of the opera in that house.

His repertoire also covered Count Almaviva (The Marriage of Figaro), Escamillo (Carmen), Ourrias (Mireille), Sulpice (La fille du régiment), Jupiter (Philémon et Baucis), the Tambour-Major (Le Caïd by Thomas), and Père Lorenzo (Amants de Vérone by d'Ivry).

Besides Le Capitaine Fracasse by Pessard, Taskin created roles in Jean de Nivelle (le Charolais) by Léo Delibes on 8 March 1880, Les contes d'Hoffmann (Lindorf, Coppelius and Docteur Miracle) by Offenbach on 18 February 1881, Manon (Lescaut) by Massenet on 19 January 1884, Proserpine (Squarocca) by Saint-Saëns on 14 March 1887, and Esclarmonde (Phorcas) by Massenet on 14 May 1889.