GARAT, PIERRE-JEAN (1764-1823), French singer, nephew of Dominique Joseph Garat, was born in Bordeaux on April 25, 1764. Gifted with a voice of exceptional timbre and compass he was the favourite singer of Marie Antoinette, to whom he gave lessons. At the beginning of the Revolution he accom panied Rode to England, where the two musicians appeared to gether in concerts. He returned to Paris in 1794 but fell under suspicion, was imprisoned for a short time, and then left Paris for Hamburg. He gained a great reputation in all the capitals of Europe, and retained his voice for a long period. He was a keen partisan of Gluck in opposition to Handel. On the institution of the Paris Conservatoire he became its first professor of singing, and had many famous pupils.
See Bernard Miall, Pierre Garat (1913) .