Edith Selig
Edith Selig-Papée (1929–2020) was a French classical soprano. She sang in concerts, opera, and song, and was known for Bach and French music. She was born in Strasbourg and died in Paris at about 91. She taught voice at the École Normale de Musique de Paris and helped start the European Voice Teachers Association (EVTA) in 1988, with Régine Crespin and Jakob Stämpfli. She gave lectures around the world on French song and served on juries for major competitions, including the 23rd Concours international de chant de Paris in 2001.
Her recordings covered a wide range of music. In 1958 she recorded Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with Eugenia Zareska and the Chœurs et Orchestre national de la Radiodiffusion française, conducted by Carl Schuricht. She recorded Bach cantatas with Fritz Werner, the Heilbronn Choir, and the Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra, including Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis (BWV 21). In the 1960s she recorded Bach’s Magnificat and Missa in F major (BWV 233) with Karl Ristenpart and other soloists. She also focused on French music, recording Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice in Paris (1960) conducted by Charles Bruck, with Rita Gorr and Nadine Sautereau. She sang Rameau’s Pigmalion ballet music (1963) and Blanchard’s Te Deum, and in 1996 Charpentier’s Te Deum with the Paul Kuentz Chamber Orchestra.
Selig died of natural causes on October 21, 2020, in Paris.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 13:47 (CET).