Lafont, or Lafond, Marcelin

Lafont, or Lafond, Marcelin (1800, Bordeaux; 23 August 1838, Paris), tenor, was a customs officer in his native city, when his success as a vocalist at local recitals prompted him to embark upon an operatic career. He traveled to Paris to enter the Conservatoire in 1821, and he made his debut at the Opéra on 9 May 1823 as Polynice in Oedipe à Colone (see eighteenth-century volume for Oedipe à Colone). He was received with enthusiasm by his audiences, but he decided that he was not yet well…