Freda Betti

Freda Betti (26 February 1924 – 13 November 1979), whose birth name was Frédérique Thérèse Augusta Betti, was a French mezzo-soprano singer whose career was mainly confined to France.''Central Opera Service bulletin'', Volume 23, No. 1
(1981). Obituary: Freda Betti. p. 39 She left a range of recordings representative of her repertoire.

Biography

Freda Betti was born at 52 rue des Ponchettes in the district of ''Vieux-Nice'' in a modest family : her father was a house painter and her mother a fishmonger. His paternal family originates from the region of Emilia-Romagna in Italy : his grandfather was born in Parma and he immigrated to Nice with his wife and children in 1893.Years of birth and death in the German National Library
accessed 27 December 2014.

She studied music and especially singing at the Conservatory of Nice with Édouard Rouard,Obituary for Freda Betti
in ''Opera'', Vol 31, p299, 1980. accessed 27 December 2014. 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 in particular of ''Carmen'' by Georges Bizet which she sang more than 150 times, 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 also 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.

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

Personal life

Freda Betti was married on 29 October 1949 in Levallois-Perret to René Clermont (1919–1976). The couple had two children.

Freda Betti was the sister of Henri Betti and the great grandaunt of Alexy Bosetti but she has no family relationship with Laura Betti and Priscilla Betti.

Repertory

Her list of roles include:List of performances
operaclass.com
* 1947: ''Faust'' by Charles Gounod – Marthe Schwertlein
* 1950: ''Le domino noir'' by Daniel Auber – Ursule
* 1951: '' L'ivrogne corrigé'' by Christoph Willibald Gluck – Mathurine
* 1952: '' Le joueur de flûte'' by Hervé – Busa
* 1952: ''Jenůfa'' by Leoš Janáček – the judge's wife
* 1953: '' At the Sign of the Reine Pédauque'' by Charles-Gaston Levadé – Jeannette
* 1954: '' Roméo et Juliette'' by Charles Gounod – Gertrude
* 1955: ''The Barber of Seville'' by Gioachino Rossini – Berta
* 1955: '' The Snow Maiden'' by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – Bobilichka
* 1956: '' Le Jour et la Nuit'' by Charles Lecocq – Sanchette
* 1956: '' Le Médium'' by Gian Carlo Menotti – Madame Nolan
* 1956: ''La Périchole'' by Jacques Offenbach – Mastrillas, Brambilla
* 1956: '' Madame l’Archiduc'' by Jacques Offenbach – the Countess
* 1957: ''Gillette de Narbonne'' by Edmond Audran – Gillette de Narbonne
* 1957: ''Les bavards'' by Jacques Offenbach – Béatrix
* 1958: ''The Love for Three Oranges'' by Sergei Prokofiev – Linette
* 1960: '' Le Médecin malgré lui'' by Charles Gounod – Martine
* 1961: ''Padmâvatî'' by Albert Roussel – a woman of the people and the second woman of the palace
* 1961: ''Lavinia'' by Henry Barraud – Nunziatina
* 1961: ''Rip Van Winkle'' by Robert Planquette – Kate
* 1962: '' Orpheus in the Underworld'' by Jacques Offenbach – Public Opinion
* 1962: '' Rhodope'' by Louis Ganne – Nausicaa
* 1963: ''Giroflé-Girofla'' by Charles Lecocq – Aurore
* 1964: ''La chanson de Fortunio'' by Jacques Offenbach – Babet

TV appearances

* 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)

Anecdote

In 1948, Freda Betti sang two songs composed by her brother Henri Betti in two radio programs broadcast on Paris Inter : ''Le Bonheur du Monde'' (lyrics by Maurice Vandair) and ''Je Cherche une Étoile'' (lyrics by René Rouzaud).

In 2018, Benoît Duteurtre hosts the radio show ''Étonnez-moi Benoît'' devoted to the career of his brother Henri Betti with the participation of his nephew and grand-nephew : François and Olivier Betti. During this radio show which is broadcast on France Musique on April 28, the host passes a sample of the opera-bouffe ''Le Jour et la Nuit'' composed in 1881 by Charles Lecocq with lyrics of Eugène Leterrier and Albert Vanloo that Freda Betti had played in 1956 as Sanchette.

References

External links

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Freda Betti
at the '' Bibliotheque nationale de France''

Freda Betti
at the ''Discogs''

Freda Betti
at the '' Gallica''

Freda Betti
at the ''Art Lyrique Français''

Freda Betti
at the ''Operaclass''

Freda Betti
at the ''Les Archives du Spectacle''

Freda Betti
at the ''La Médiathèque de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine''

Freda Betti
at the ''Cimetières de France et d’ailleurs''

Freda Betti
at the ''Geneastar''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Betti, Freda
People from Nice
1924 births
1979 deaths
French operatic mezzo-sopranos
Voice teachers
20th-century French women opera singers
People of Emilian descent
French people of Italian descent
Women music educators