De Candia, Giovanni Matteo dit Mario (1810-1883)

Italian tenor

Mario at the Royal Academy of Music, lithograph by Grégoire Caboche et Cie (coll.PM)

The young knight Giovanni Matteo de Candia, a fervent supporter of the cause of a united Italy, leaves his family and the military career for which he was destined to study opera in Paris.

Mario made his debut at the Paris Opera in 1838, and the following year he also sang in London, where he triumphed alongside Giulia Grisi, his future wife.

Back in Paris, Mario replaces Rubini in the legendary Théâtre-Italien quartet he forms with Grisi, Lablache and Tamburini.

For three decades, Mario remained one of the greatest singers of romantic roles, particularly in his incarnations of the characters of Donizetti, Mozart, Verdi and Meyerbeer.

To honor the memory of his wife, who died suddenly in 1869, Mario donated his entire fortune to the creation of soprano scholarships at the Paris Opera.

He bid farewell to the stage in 1871 before a final concert tour of the United States with Carlotta and Adelina Patti.

He spent his last years in Rome, thanks to a pension from English friends. His friends organized a benefit recital for him in 1880, three years before his death.

Discover the artist's world through various documents: each image opens the door to one of his interpretations, his portraits in civilian clothes, his autographs or press articles about him from the period