Eliane Coelho

Eliane Coelho (born in 1951 in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian soprano singer. She was a soprano in the Frankfurt Opera and performed dozens of roles at the Vienna Staatsoper.

Coelho began studying architecture at a college in Rio de Janeiro, but she soon decided she would develop her singing career in Europe. She was a pupil of Solange Petit-Renaux, a former star of the Paris Opéra. In 1971, she moved to Germany and studied at the Musikhochschule, in Hanover. In 1974, she was already singing roles like Nannetta, Gretel, Zdenka, Violetta, Liù and Konstanze. In 1976, she concentrated her performances at the Stadttheater, in Bremen, where she stayed for six years and added roles like Fiorilla in Il turco in Italia, Norina in Don Pasquale, Hanna Glawari in The Merry Widow and Lulu in Berg's Lulu. After starting her career as a lyric coloratura soprano, her voice gradually gained heft and a darker color, tending to the lyric and lyric spinto repertoire.

In 1984, she became a regular soprano in the Frankfurt Opera. She also appeared as a guest artist in several opera houses, as in the Teatro Regio di Torino, where she sang in Lulu, and also in Aachen and in the Vienna Volksoper. In 1988, she sang the roles of Giulietta, in The Tales of Hoffmann, at the Festival of Bregenz, and of Donna Elvira at the Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro. In the late 80's, she had already sung in many countries. However, her definitive breakthrough would happen some years later. In 1990, she sang Tosca in Heidelberg and, in 1991, Donna Anna in Rio de Janeiro. In that same year, she was hired by the Vienna Staatsoper, where she debuted with a major success as Salome, which would become her most acclaimed role. From 1991 to 2003, she sang the Straussian role about 140 times.