Eda-Pierre, Christiane
Eda-Pierre, Christiane
Eda-Pierre, Christiane, esteemed French soprano; b. Fort-de-France, Martinique, March 24, 1932. She studied at the Paris Cons., graduating with 3 premiers prix in 1957. In 1958 she made her operatic debut in Nice as Leila in Les Pecheurs de perks’, after singing Pamina at the Aix-en-Provence Festival (1959), she went to Paris and made debuts at the Opéra-Comique (as Lakme, 1961) and the Opera (as Lucia di Lammermoor, 1962). In 1966 she made her first appearance at London’s Covent Garden as Teresa in Benvenuto Cellini. She appeared as Mozart’s Countess with the Paris Opera during its visit to N.Y. in 1976. On April 3, 1980, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Mozart’s Constanze, and returned there for the 1981–82 season. In 1983 she created the role of the Angel in Messiaen’s St. Frangois d’Assise in Paris. She also served as a prof, of voice at the Paris Cons, (from 1977). Among her other admired roles were Rameau’s Dardanus, the Queen of the Night, Berlioz’s Hero, Zerbinetta, Gilda, and Milhaud’s Medee.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire