Clara Pierre Impens (21 February 1899 – 16 August 1970) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

soprano who sang under the stage-name Clara Clairbert.

Early life

Born in Saint Gilles, Clara began studying music in Anderlecht at the age of seven. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

her father, a civil servant, followed the Belgian government into exile, settling his family in

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...

. There, Clara sang in a Belgian choir, coming to the attention of choir-master who arranged for Clara to be trained as a soloist in Paris. After the war, she appeared regularly at benefit concerts for Belgian veterans and war wounded throughout Belgium, singing under the name Clary Annie. This brought her to the attention to the director of

La Monnaie The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (french: Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, italic=no, ; nl, Koninklijke Muntschouwburg, italic=no; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National O ...

Career

She first sang at La Monnaie in a production of Offenbach's ''

Les contes d'Hoffmann ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died in ...

''. Taking the stage-name Clara Clairbert, she was considered the''

prima donna In opera or commedia dell'arte, a prima donna (; Italian for "first lady"; plural: ''prime donne'') is the leading female singer in the company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. ''Prime donne'' often had grand off-stage per ...

'' of

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

from the 1920s to her retirement in the 1950s. Her performances as Violetta in '' La traviata'', a role she reprised over 200 times, and as the eponymous heroine of ''

Lakmé ''Lakmé'' is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille. The score, written from 1881 to 1882, was first performed on 14 April 1883 by the Opéra-Comique at the (second) Salle Favart in ...

'' were particularly popular. She toured regularly abroad with success, her appearances in '' Manon'' in

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in 1931, and in ''

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had co ...

'' at the

Opera Garnier The Palais Garnier (, Garnier Palace), also known as Opéra Garnier (, Garnier Opera), is a 1,979-seatBeauvert 1996, p. 102. opera house at the Place de l'Opéra in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was built for the Paris Opera from ...

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in 1933, were particularly well received. She toured the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, performing opposite

John Charles Thomas John Charles Thomas (September 6, 1891December 13, 1960) was an American opera, operetta and concert baritone. Biography John Charles Thomas was born on September 6, 1891 in Meyersdale, Pennsylvania. He was the son of a Methodist minister of W ...

and Beniamino Gigli. She retired in 1953 to teach music privately. She died in Brussels in 1970.

References

* Moors, Hans, "IMPENS, Clara, Pierre..." in E. Gubin, C. Jacques, V. Piette & J. Puissant (eds), ''Dictionnaire des femmes belges: XIX^e et XX^e siècles.'' Bruxelles: Éditions Racine, 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Clairbert, Clara 1899 births 1970 deaths Belgian operatic sopranos 20th-century Belgian women opera singers People from Saint-Gilles, Belgium