Larrivée, Henri

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Larrivée, Henri

Larrivée, Henri, French bass-baritone; b. Lyons, Jan. 9, 1737; d. Vincennes, Aug. 7, 1802. He sang in the chorus of the Paris Opéra, making his debut there in Rameau’s Castor et Pollux in 1755. He subsequently distinguished himself in the operas of Gluck, creating the roles of Agamemnon in Iphigénie en Aulide (1774), Ubalde in Armide (1777), and Orestes in Iphigénie en Tauride (1779). Gossec wrote the title role of his opera Sabinus (1773) for him. His wife, Marie Jeanne (née Le Miere) Larrivée (b. Sedan, Nov. 29, 1733; d. Paris, Oct. 1786), was a soprano at the Paris Opéra (1750–77); she created the title role of Ernelinde in Philidor’s opera of 1767, and also the role of Eponine in Sabinus.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire