GARCA, MANUEL DEL POPOLO (VICENTE)

born Jan. 22, 1775, Seville died June 2, 1832, Paris tenor and composer, one of the finest singers of his time. The age of 17 he made his stage debut at Cdiz, Spain, in an operetta that included songs he had composed. In 1800 the first of his more than 90 operas, El preso, was produced in Madrid. Garca was active as a singer and composer in Paris (180811) and Italy (181116), where Rossini wrote for him the role of Almaviva in The Barber of Seville. Thereafter he worked principally in London and Paris, singing and composing. In 1825 he formed an opera company, which included his son Manuel and his celebrated daughters Maria Malibran and Pauline Viardot-Garca, and took it to New York City and Mexico. His singing was praised for its vivacity and intelligence, and he was skilled at the art of embellishment. His son, Manuel Garca, incorporated Garca's principles and methods in his Trait complet de l'art du chant (1847; Complete Treatise on the Art of Singing).