Louis-Henri Obin

A bass of the Paris Opéra for twenty-five years, and Verdi's first Philippe II. He trained at the Lille Conservatoire under Antoine Ponchard and then in Paris, and made his debut at the Opéra in 1844. Verdi used him twice, as Procida in Les vêpres siciliennes in 1855 and as Philippe II in 1867, and Meyerbeer cast him as the High Priest of Brahma in L'Africaine. He retired in 1869, returned briefly in 1871, and afterwards taught singing at the Paris Conservatoire. The Legion of Honour came in 1890.