Régine Crespin (Soprano)
Born: 23rd February 1927
Died: 5th July 2007
Régine Crespin (23 February 1927 – 5 July 2007) was a French operatic soprano, later a mezzo-soprano, who excelled in both the French and German repertoire.
She made her début in 1950 in Mulhouse as Elsa in Lohengrin, and the same year appeared in that role in Paris.[1] After her debut, she sang with the Paris Opera but in regional centres. Her big break was being chosen as Kundry in Parsifal at the 1958 Bayreuth Festival, despite the fact that she had not sung Wagner in German. To learn the role in German, she was coached by Lou Bruder, a professor of German literature who later became her husband.[1]