Colette Alliot-Lugaz (born 20 July 1947) is a French soprano, particularly associated with Mozart.
Born in Notre-Dame-de-Bellecombe, she began her musical studies in Bonneville (Haute Savoie), and later in Geneva, with Magda Fonay-Besson. She completed her training at the Paris Opéra-Studio with René Koster and Vera Rosza. She made her stage debut as Pamina, in a production of The Magic Flute by the Opéra-Studio, in 1976.
Although Mozart would always remain at the core of her repertoire (Susanna, Zerlina), she gradually included roles such as Rosina, Annchen, Véronique, as well as many roles in opera by Monteverdi, Rameau, Charpentier and Haydn.
She joined the Opéra National de Lyon, where she sang a memorable Mélisande in 1980. She also appeared at the Paris Opéra, La Monnaie in Brussels, the Aix-en-Provence Festival, and the Glyndebourne Festival.
She created the role of the Page in Philippe Boesmans's La Passion de Gilles in 1983.
Ileana Cotrubaș is a Romanian operatic soprano whose career spanned from the 1960s to the 1980s. She was much admired for her acting skills and facility for singing opera in many different languages.
Dame Kiri Jeanette Claire Te Kanawa, is a retired New Zealand opera singer. She had a full lyric soprano voice, which has been described as "mellow yet vibrant, warm, ample and unforced". Her extensive discography includes three albums which featured in the top forty in charts in Australia in the mid-1980s.
Cecilia BartoliOMRI is an Italian coloratura mezzo-soprano opera singer and recitalist. She is best known for her interpretations of the music of Bellini, Handel, Mozart, Rossini and Vivaldi, as well as for her performances of lesser-known music from the Baroque and Classical period. She is known for singing both soprano and mezzo roles.
Vesselina Kasarova is a Bulgarian operatic mezzo-soprano.
Natalie Dessay is a French singer, known for her former career as an operatic soprano. She gained wide recognition after her portrayal of Olympia in The Tales of Hoffmann in 1992, and then performing at leading stages, such as the Paris Opera, Vienna State Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera.
Jane Berbié is a French mezzo-soprano particularly associated with Mozart and Rossini roles.
Sara Magdalena Ernman is a Swedish mezzo-soprano opera singer. Besides operas and operettas, she has also performed chansons, cabaret, jazz, and appeared in musicals. She is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. Ernman represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "La Voix", finishing in 21st place.
Malin Hartelius is a Swedish soprano who performs regularly with conductors such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Ton Koopman, Riccardo Chailly, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Peter Schreier, Herbert Blomstedt, and Frans Brüggen. She has collaborated with orchestras like the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, the San Francisco Symphony, and the Concentus Musicus Wien.
Colette Boky , is a French-Canadian operatic soprano, particularly associated with lyric roles in the French, Italian, and German repertories.
Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz is a Norwegian-Italian operatic soprano.
Susanne Mentzer is an American operatic mezzo-soprano. She is best known for singing trouser roles, such as Cherubino in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Idamante in Mozart's Idomeneo, Octavian in Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier and the composer in Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos, as well as other music of Mozart, Strauss, Rossini, Berlioz and Mahler.
Melissa Mars is a French actress and singer-songwriter. She appeared alongside John Travolta in From Paris With Love produced by Luc Besson. She won a best supporting actress award for her performance in The Cabining, and had her song "Beautiful" included in Coca-Cola's "52 Songs of Happiness" worldwide music compilation.
Desirée Rancatore is an Italian dramatic coloratura soprano with an active career on the opera and concert stages of Europe.
Julie Fuchs is a French soprano known for her interpretation of light-lyric repertoire.
Marianne Crebassa is a French mezzo-soprano.
Michèle Lagrange is a contemporary French operatic soprano.
Sophie Koch is a French operatic mezzo-soprano who made an international career, performing Rosina in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Royal Opera House, the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss at the Semperoper in Dresden, and Charlotte in Massenet's Werther at the Paris Opera, among others. Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss became her signature role. She has also performed in concert and recital, and made recordings.
Julia Kleiter is a German operatic soprano and a concert singer. After her debut as Mozart's Pamina at the Opéra Bastille in Paris, she has appeared at major international opera houses, especially the Zurich Opera, and festivals, including the Salzburg Festival. She is also active as a concert singer, and has recorded Bach with Nikolaus Harnoncourt, among others.
Elsa Dreisig is a French-Danish operatic soprano. Based at the Berlin State Opera, she made a European career in both opera and concert. Her opera roles include, besides the standard lyric soprano repertoire such as Mozart's Fiordiligi and Bizet's Micaëla, Baroque opera such as Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie, and the world premiere of Beat Furrer's Violetter Schnee.
Elena Tsallagova is a Russian operatic soprano who has performed at major opera houses and festivals in Europe. She was noticed internationally as Nanetta in Verdi's Falstaff at the Glyndebourne Festival, and in the title role of Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen at the Paris Opera. She has been a member of Deutsche Oper Berlin since 2013, performing lead roles such as Debussy's Mélisande, Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto and Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss.