My beloved soprano Jeannette Pilou has passed away at the age of 83. By chance, I was at her last-minute Metropolitan Opera debut as Juliette on October 7, 1967, and it was love at first sight…and first hearing.
I have so many beautiful memories of Mlle. Pilou: not only of her expressive and wonderfully detailed portrayals of such iconic roles as Violetta, Mimi, Mélisande, and Mozart’s Susanna, but also of her great kindness to me as a young and ardent admirer.
In 2007, I wrote a long appreciation of Jeannette Pilou which includes details of her performances as well as many pictures – for she was a great beauty.
Her voice was a masterpiece of pastels, with a vein of stainless steel which allowed her to penetrate the orchestra in the heavier passages of FAUST and MADAMA BUTTTERFLY. She could turn the most familiar phrases in a role into something distinctly personal. Singing Mimi’s narrative in Act I of LA BOHEME, Jeannette sang: “Non vado sempre a messa, ma prego assai al Signor” (“I don’t always go to Mass, but I pray often to the Lord”), putting an emphasis on “assai” that gave the statement a charming tongue-in-cheek feeling. Over time, she developed a lovely gift for threading piani/pianissimi into a vocal line. Mlle. Pilou was a singer who could draw the listener in; this made her Mélisande a particular treasure.
Jeannette was extremely photogenic; I have a whole folder of photos of her. If she were singing today, everyone would want a selfie with her.
She especially loved the above photo that I took of her. After having it developed and blown up, I presented it to her to sign (you can see her exclamations marks), and she asked if I could send her a copy. I did, of course.
Despite my shyness, I managed to have several conversations with Ms. Pilou; her speaking voice was so enchanting, and so very intimate.
Above: Jeannette Pilou as Thaïs
~ Oberon
Oberon's Glade 