Ninon Vallin was the most famous French singer of her generation and one of the most recorded artists of her time. Born Eugénie Vallin in a small town outside of Lyon in 1886, she made her Paris debut in 1911 at the prestigious Concerts Colonne singing Debussy’s La Demoiselle élue. A year and a half later, she made her debut at the Paris Opéra as Micaëla in Carmen. By the mid 1930s, through her operatic and concert performances as well as her many recordings, she had become a virtual household name in France. Her prodigious recording career began in 1913 and ended in 1956. She died in Lyon in 1961, two months past her 75th birthday. (Notes from Marston)
Marston offers a nice 2-CD set of Vallin’s Pathé recordings.