Born Auguste Affre in
Saint-Chinian, Affre was trained at the
Conservatoire de Toulouse and the
Conservatoire de Paris. He studied singing with
Edmond Duvernoy and
Pierre Gailhard. After singing in theatres in the French provinces, he made his debut in Paris at the
Opéra in 1890 as Edgardo in
Gaetano Donizetti's
Lucia di Lammermoor opposite
Nellie Melba in the title role, who also made her debut. He remained a leading tenor at that opera house for the next 20 years, portraying such roles as Arnold Melchtal in
William Tell, Belmonte in
Die Entführung aus dem Serail, the Duke of Mantua in
Rigoletto, Eléazar in
La Juive, Fernand in
La favorite, Jean de Leyde in
Le prophète, Radames in
Aida, Raoul de Nangis in
Les Huguenots, Renaud in
Gluck's
Armide, Vasco da Gama in ''
L'Africaine, and the title roles in Lohengrin and Sigurd''. In contemporary sources, including those written by the tenor himself, his stage name is spelled "Gustarello". The spelling "Agustarello" appears only posthumously, and is presumably an error. In contemporary reviews, on record labels and in the tenor's own spoken introductions to many of his sound recordings, he is simply "Monsieur Affre". ==References==