1. Christiane Eda-Pierre was a French coloratura soprano of Martinican origin, who sang in a wide variety of roles, from baroque to contemporary works.
14 Facts About Christiane Eda-Pierre
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Christiane Eda-Pierre is the daughter of journalist William Eda-Pierre and music teacher Alice Nardal, and the niece of Paulette Nardal.
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Christiane Eda-Pierre made her debut at the Opera-Comique in 1958, as Lakme, at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 1959, as Papagena in The Magic Flute, and at the Palais Garnier in 1960, as Lucia di Lammermoor.
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Christiane Eda-Pierre sang there the standard lyric coloratura roles of the French and Italian repertoire.
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Christiane Eda-Pierre won great acclaim in Mozart roles, especially as Konstanze in Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail, as well as the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro, Donna Anna and Elvira in Don Giovanni, The Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflote.
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Christiane Eda-Pierre was much appreciated in French baroque opera, particularly in the works of Jean-Philippe Rameau, including Les Indes Galantes, Zoroastre, Les Boreades, and Dardanus.
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Christiane Eda-Pierre was very active on French Radio where she sang in little performed works, such as Rossini's Le siege de Corinthe, Bellini's Il pirata, Bizet's La jolie fille de Perth, as well as Berlioz's Beatrice et Benedict and Benvenuto Cellini.
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Christiane Eda-Pierre created many contemporary works, such as Capdieville's Les amants captifs, Chaynes's Pour un monde noir, and Erszebet.
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Christiane Eda-Pierre appeared to great acclaim internationally, including Lisbon, London, Wexford, Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna, Salzburg, Moscow, Chicago, and New York.
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Christiane Eda-Pierre made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1980 as Konstanze, and went on to sing other roles the next two years: Gilda in Rigoletto and Antonia in Les contes d'Hoffmann.
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Christiane Eda-Pierre became a teacher at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1977, while continuing her career in opera and in concert.
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The possessor of a beautiful, rich and agile voice, which enabled her to succeed in a wide variety of roles, Christiane Eda-Pierre can be heard on several recordings, her three most famous being on the Philips label, as Konstanze in Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail and Teresa in Benvenuto Cellini, both under Sir Colin Davis, and an album of arias from the French opera-comiques of Gretry and Philidor, under Sir Neville Marriner.
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Christiane Eda-Pierre was invested Commandeur of the Ordre national du Merite in 1997, and promoted to Grand Officier in 2011.
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Christiane Eda-Pierre was made an Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 2007, and was promoted to the rank of Officier in 2016.