French soprano Christiane Eda-Pierre died on 5 Septeber at the age of 88. She was born in Fort-de-France, Martinique and studied in Paris notably with Charles Panzéra. In 1957 she made her debut in Nice, as Leïla in Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles. Some years later she sang in Paris at the Opéra Comique and at the National Opera.
She sang there the standard lyric coloratura roles of the French and Italian repertories. She also won great acclaim in Mozart roles as well as in the French baroque opera.
Eda-Pierre also appeared to great acclaim internationally, in London, Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna, Salzburg, Moscow, Chicago, and New York.
She became a teacher at the Paris Conservatory in 1977, while continuing her career in opera and in concert.
Eda-Pierre can be heard on several recordings, her three most famous being on the Philips label, as Konstanze in Abduction from the Seraglio and Teresa in Benvenuto Cellini, both under Colin Davis, and an album of arias from the French opéra-comiques of Grétry and Philidor, under Neville Marriner.
