ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a biography of mid- to late-19th-century Victorian vocalist Giuseppe de Begnis. Giuseppe de Begnis was a major figure in the musical life of Great Britain in the 1820s and 1830s, acclaimed by some writers as the best Figaro of all times and representing the then current style of the classic Italian buffo like no other. Mons Choron carries on: 'he made his first debut as primo buffo singer at Modena in an opera called Marco Antonio'. He continued on to the Teatro Ducale at Parma, where he is Choron-said to have played Mustafa in L'Italiana in Algeri and in something called Marcotando by local composer Ferdinando Paini. In 1819, the couple ventured beyond Italy. They were engaged for Paris's Italian opera house, the opera buffa at the Salle Louvois, now under the management of the composer F Paer, and opened there on March 20 in his I fuorusciti da Firenze.
