Freda Betti

• Name — Freda Betti • Birth Name — Frédérique Thérèse Augusta Betti • Born — 26 February 1924 • Birthplace — Nice, France • Died — 13 November 1979 • Place of death — Nice, France • Burial Place — Cimetière du Château • Education — Conservatory of Nice • Occupation — Opera singer Singing teacher • Years Active — 1947–1979 • Children — 2 • Notable Works — Carmen

Freda Betti was born at 52 rue des Ponchettes in the old town in Nice into a modest family: her father was a house painter and her mother a fishmonger. Her paternal family originated from the region of Emilia-Romagna in Italy: her grandfather was born in Parma and he emigrated to Nice with his wife and children in 1893. She studied music and especially singing at the Conservatory of Nice with Édouard Rouard, where she obtained a Premier Prix de Chant in 1943.

She made her debut at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo in 1947 as Siébel in Faust by Charles Gounod. She appeared frequently with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France of the RTF in the early 1950s, before entering the troupe of the Opéra-Comique in the 1960s. She sang the title role of Carmen more than 150 times and recorded, and her repertoire also included Fricka, Brangaene, Dulcinée in Don Quichotte and Suzuki. Betti sang on major national stages (Nantes, Nice, Strasbourg, Toulouse) and European (Monte-Carlo, La Scala), as well as in numerous opera festivals, including Aix-en-Provence, Avignon, Bayreuth. Betti recorded for Philips and EMI. Among published recordings she took part in were The Snow Maiden (Bobilicka), Démophon, Tosca (shepherd boy) and Philippine (Isabelle). In 1958 she recorded excerpts from Carmen with Ken Neate, Gabriel Bacquier and Andréa Guiot on Philips P 77118 L. She participated in the original production of L'Opéra d'Aran by Gilbert Bécaud, in 1962, at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. Betti sang the title role of La Périchole on French Culture radio in 1964. In the 1970s she was a vocal teacher at the Conservatory of Monaco.

Betti was married on 29 October 1949 in Levallois-Perret to René Clermont (1919–1976). The couple had two children. She was the sister of Henri Betti and the great great-aunt of Alexy Bosetti (but has no family relationship with Laura Betti and Priscilla Betti).

Freda Betti died at her home in Nice in 1979, at the age of 55, and was buried in the family vault "Famille Betti" with her husband and his parents in the Cimetière du Château ("Carré de l'O.N.U").

• 1956: Le Médium (adaptation of The Medium) by Claude Loursais: Madame Nolan. (RTF) • 1957: Les Bavards (adaptation of Les bavards) by Bronislaw Horowicz: Béatrice. (RTF) • 1960: Le Médecin malgré lui (adaptation of Le médecin malgré lui) by Claude Loursais: Martine. (RTF)