Paul Barroilhet

He began his career in Italy during the early 1830s, performing under the name Paolo Barroilhet and making a name for himself as an exceptional singer, particularly in Naples.

He returned to France in 1840 to join the roster of artists at the Opéra National de Paris, where he performed under his birth name.

The by now wealthy Bairrolhet elected to withdraw completely from the stage and he found a new vocation as a painter and art collector.

For Donizetti he created Eustachio de Saint-Pierre in L'assedio di Calais (1836), the Lord Duke of Nottingham in Roberto Devereux (1837), Alfonso XI of Castile in La favorite (1840), and Camoëns in Dom Sebastien (1843).

[2] Other world premières in which he sang include Saverio Mercadante's La vestale (Publio) and Elena da Feltre (Guido), Il Conte di Chalais by Giuseppe Lillo, Richard en Palestine by Adolphe Adam and Marie Stuart by Louis Niedermeyer.