John Abraham.
Born London, 20 March 1774.
Died London, 17 February 1856.
English tenor.
John Braham had a hugely successful career, most famously creating the difficult lead role of Huon in Weber's Oberon (Covent Garden 1826).
His parentage is obscure other than the fact that he was Jewish and he is believed to have been orphaned young. As a treble he was a descant singer (meshorrer) at the Great Synagogue of London, where he came to the attention of the hazzan Myer Lyon, who may have been a relation. Lyon was also a successfu operatic tenor, under the name Michaele Leoni, and was Braham's first vocal teacher. His first appearance, still as a treble, was at Leoni's Covent Garden benefit in 1787, where he sang Mandane's specracular soprano aria 'The soldier tir'd of war's alarms' from Arne's Artaxerses.
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