Rubini, Giovanni Battista (1794 - 1854)

Italian tenor

Portrait of Rubini (coll.PM)

Giovanni Battista Rubini, a true legend of ^19th-century Italian opera, owes his career to the great impresario Domenico Barbaja.

As early as 1817, Valentino Fioravanti composed several works expressly for him. In 1818 and 1819, he triumphed on the stages of Rome, Palermo, Milan and Naples, where he met the French soprano Adélaïde Chaumel (1796-1874), whom he married in 1821.

The mid-1820s brought Rubini international recognition: Vienna, Paris, London, Madrid, Brussels, Bordeaux, Berlin and Saint Petersburg were all at his feet. In Paris, he formed the legendary quartet of the Théâtre-Italien with Grisi, Lablache and Tamburini.

In 1835, this quartet, with the addition of Giuditta Pasta for the occasion, was chosen to sing Bellini's requiem mass.

After a final tour of St. Petersburg and Moscow in 1845, Rubini retired from the stage for good.

Settling in his native village, he built a palace on the site of the old family home, where he lived with his wife until his death on March 3, 1854.

Among the vast repertoire Rubini interpreted during his long career, his name remains forever attached to those of Bellini and Donizetti , for which he created a total of dozens of roles.

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