Luigi Lablache, the Italian bass, was born in 1794 at Naples, the son of a French father and an Irish mother. In 1830 he made his London début at the King's Theatre, where he subsequently appeared in opera every season until 1852, retiring from the stage in 1856. From 19 April 1836 he also gave Princess (later Queen) Victoria singing lessons, in which she delighted, finding him 'an excellent and very agreeable master'.