Ninon Vallin

Ninon Vallin studied at Regional Conservatory of Lyon. Anne Germain is recorded as having studied under Ninon Vallin. The recorded working language is French. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are classical music. Distinctions recorded are Officer of the Legion of Honour.

Eugénie Vallin was born at Montalieu-Vercieu, a small town about 30 miles east of Lyon. She studied at the Lyon Conservatoire and later in Paris. At first, she had no intention of performing opera, preparing herself for a career on the concert platform.[2] In 1911, she was chosen by Claude Debussy to sing the part of the celestial voice in the first performance of his Le martyre de Saint Sébastien.[3] She continued her association with Debussy, giving the première of his Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé in 1914 at the Salle Gaveau in Paris, accompanied by the composer. She also worked extensively with other contemporary composers, including Albert Roussel, Joaquín Nin-Culmell, and Reynaldo Hahn; the latter two accompanied her in recordings of their own works. She was first persuaded to sing opera in 1912, appearing in a number of roles at the Opéra-Comique, including Micaëla (in Carmen), Mimì (in La bohème), Clara in Les cadeaux de Noël, and the title role in Louise. She went on to make her début at the Teatro Colón, as Marguerite (in Faust) in 1916, returning there regularly over the next 20 years. She made other débuts at Milan's La Scala (in 1916), Rome (1917), the Paris Opéra, as Thaïs, (1920) and San Francisco opera (1934). The range of roles which she undertook was unusually varied in their vocal requirements: Manon, Charlotte (in Werther), Juliette (in Roméo et Juliette), Marguerite (in Faust), Mignon, Zerlina (in Don Giovanni) and Mélisande. She also sang the trio of heroines in The Tales of Hoffmann. Vallin had a great affection for French operetta, and performed works by Lecocq, Massé, and Chabrier; she even ventured into music hall during the 1930s, singing at the Alhambra in Paris. Such was her popularity in her native country that she also appeared in a 1937 film, Madelon's Daughter. Vallin worked with most of the leading French singers of her era, including the renowned tenor Georges Thill, whom she disliked. Her voice was that of a good-sized lyric soprano, well balanced but strongest in its middle and lower registers; but, at her peak, she was also capable of singing high coloratura, as recordings of arias by Bellini and Donizetti illustrate. Her tone was cool and clear, with exemplary enunciation. Louise, Charlotte and Manon became her signature roles. Her performances were described by the critic André Tubeuf as the "epitome of good singing but also of good taste". Sound technique supported both her versatility and the durability of her career; as late as 1946, when she was 60, she sang the Countess (in Le nozze di Figaro) and she continued singing and recording into the 1950s. Between 1953 and 1959, she was a guest professor at the Conservatory in Montevideo.

She died in 1961, aged 75, at La Sauvagère, her estate at Millery, near Lyon.[4][5]

The authorities additionally record the heading Eugénie Vallin. Her recorded language was French.