Jean-Philippe Lafont

Jean-Philippe Lafont is a French baritone. He studied in his native city of Toulouse and later at the Opéra-Studio in Paris. He made his operatic debut as Papageno in The Magic Flute at the Salle Favart, Paris in 1974. He went on to appear regularly in Toulouse, where he first played the title role in Verdi's Falstaff in 1987. Lafont has performed at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Opera in New York, La Scala in Milan and the Royal Opera House, London. Among the roles with which he is particularly associated are the four villains in The Tales of Hoffmann, the Comte des Grieux in Manon, Golaud in Pelléas et Mélisande, Barak in Die Frau ohne Schatten and the title roles in Gianni Schicchi, Rigoletto, Boris Godunov and Macbeth.His discography includes: Auber: La muette de Portici Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust Bizet: Djamileh Debussy: La chute de la maison Usher Escaich: Claude Gluck: Les Pélerins de la Mecque Gounod: Messe Solennelle de Sainte Cécile Offenbach: La Belle Hélène Offenbach: Mesdames de la Halle Offenbach: Monsieur Choufleuri Offenbach: Pomme d'Api Salieri: Les Danaïdes Salieri: Tarare Verdi: Falstaff