Gilbert-Louis Duprez

Gilbert Duprez was a French tenor, the first to sing a top C from the chest, who created Gaston in Verdi's Jérusalem at the Paris Opéra in 1847. After an uncertain start in Paris he went to Italy in 1828, found his dramatic voice there, and in 1835 created Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor at Naples. His chest C in Guillaume Tell took the Opéra by storm in 1837, and there he created leading roles in Benvenuto Cellini, La favorite, Les martyrs and Dom Sébastien. He taught at the Paris Conservatoire from 1842 and later founded his own school.