Lebrun, Louis-Sébastien
Lebrun, Louis-Sébastien
Lebrun, Louis-Sébastien, French tenor and composer; b. Paris, Dec. 10, 1764; d. there, June 27, 1829. He received training in voice and composition at the maîtrise of Notre Dame in Paris (1771–83). He served as music director of the church of St. Germain- l’Aurerrois before making his operatic debut in 1787 at the Paris Opéra as Polynices in Sacchini’s Oedipe à Coione. He also appeared at the Concert Spirituel. From 1791 to 1799 he sang at the Théâtre Feydeau before serving as an understudy at the Opéra. In 1803 he became a singing tutor there. In 1807 he was made a tenor and in 1810 chef du chant at Napoleon’s chapelle. Lebrun wrote about 15 stage works, the most successful being his operas Marcelin (Paris, March 22, 1800) and Le Rossignol (Paris, April 23, 1816).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire