My playlist recommendation this week is a collection of recordings by the incredible French soprano Christiane Eda-Pierre, who sadly passed away earlier this year at 88. She was one of France’s first Black opera singers to reach international stardom and was one of the 20th century’s most exciting coloratura sopranos. 

Eda-Pierre was born on the island of Martinique to a music teacher mother and a journalist father, and moved to Paris as a teenager to pursue her musical education. Her career is full of amazing milestones and accomplishments, including a legendary outdoor performance in New York City’s Central Park with Luciano Pavarotti, which attracted an astounding crowd of 150,000 people.

She sang on both sides of the Atlantic at major houses and companies, and mastered repertoire from Baroque to Mozart to contemporary composers, showcasing a bell-clear voice and virtuosic technique across styles. 

This collection from Decca represents some of the best material she has recorded. While a lot of this music falls squarely into familiar “best-of” territory, there is also a rich variety of lesser-known French repertoire from the 18th and 19th centuries, which is very interesting to get to know: it’s a wide-ranging portrait of a consummate artist.