Jeannette Pilou ('''Ζανέτ Πηλού''') (11 July 1937 - 27 April 2020) was a Greek operatic soprano.
A native of Alexandria, Pilou was born to Greek parents resident in Egypt.[1] She underwent her initial vocal studies in the country of her birth before traveling to Italy to study under . In 1959 she made her operatic debut at Milan's as Violetta. In 1964 she appeared in La bohème at the Vienna State Opera; she soon embarked upon an international career which took her to London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Hannover, Cologne, Genoa, Budapest, Paris, Barcelona, Lisbon, Chicago, New Orleans, Houston, Philadelphia, and Buenos Aires.[2]
Pilou debuted at the Metropolitan Opera on 7 October 1967 singing the role of Juliette in Roméo et Juliette;[3] during her career there she also sang Mimì in La bohème;[4] Micaëla in Carmen;[5] Zerlina in Don Giovanni;[6] Nanetta in Falstaff;[7] Marguerite in Faust;[8] Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly;[9] Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro;[10] Nedda in Pagliacci;[11] Mélisande in Pelléas et Mélisande;[12] and Violetta.[13] For the Royal Opera House in 1971 she performed Cio-Cio-San.[14] For Seattle Opera and Portland Opera she sang Marguerite in 1979.[15] At the San Francisco Opera she performed as Zerlina, Marguerite, Cio-Cio-San, and Mélisande.[16] She also performed at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, the Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden, and the Arena di Verona. At the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, she created the lead role in La reine morte of Renzo Rossellini in 1973. Pilou was a regular at the Greek National Opera from 1969 until 1985, performing such roles as Liú, Susanna, Cio-Cio-San, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Desdemona, and Marguerite. She was Mélisande in the Greek premiere of Pelléas et Mélisande in 1998.[2]
During her career, Pilou was described as "a little bit East, a little bit West".[14] For her services to music, she was named a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.[17] She was among the founding members of the "Maria Callas Scholarship" foundation.[2]