Opera Singer. A lyric soprano, she shall beyond all doubt be remembered for interpreting the works of Francis Poulenc. Raised in the itinerant lifestyle of a 'military brat', she spent most of her early years in French Indochina and other parts of Asia but returned home to study at the Bordeaux Conservatory. Denise made her 1943 professional bow at the Bordeaux Opera as Lola in Mascagni's "Cavalleria Rusticana", soon took-over the leading role of Santuzza in the same work, and was heard as Salome from Massenet's "Herodiade" and as the title doomed Geisha of Puccini's "Madame Butterfly"; in 1945, she traveled to Paris for an audition but had to make ends meet by working as a Cabaret singer at the Folies Bergere, then during a 1947 rehearsal for "Butterfly" was heard by Poulenc (1899-1963) who was at that point in desperate straits to find a soprano to take the title lead in his upcoming "Les Mamelles Tresias". She was to sing the June 3, 1947 Opera-Comique world premiere of the work and was evermore to be linked with Poulenc; joining the Paris Opera and its companion Opera-Comique in 1947, she remained there for the rest of her career. Denise scored a hit as Francesca in the 1949 posthumous world premiere of Reynaldo Hahn's "Le Oui des Jeunes Filles" as well as with the part of Concepcion in Maurice Ravel's "L'Heure espagnole" and with the first recording of Florent Schmitt's choral work "Psaume XLVII". Poulenc wrote the role of Blanche in "The Dialogues of the Carmelites" for her, and though she sang the June 21, 1957 first French performance, Virginia Zeani had received the honor of the 'official' world premiere (in Italian) at La Scala Milano six months earlier. On February 6, 1959, Denise was Elle for the Opera-Comique world premiere of Poulenc's "La voix humaine", the role becoming probably her best-remembered creation and the vehicle for a Carnegie Hall performance that received rave reviews. She made her 1961 American bow with the Dallas Civic Opera as the title lead of Massenet's "Thais" and appeared for two seasons at Glyndebourne as Melisande of Claude Debussy's "Pelleas et Melisande", but following Poulenc's 1963 death stopped performing. A comeback soon followed, though a severe health crisis suffered during a 1965 Buenos Aires run of "Dialogues" drove from the stage for good. Following a lengthy recovery, she had a long second career as a distinguished master class presenter and professor at the Ecole Francaise du Musique. At her death from the effects of advanced age she left a significant recorded legacy, most of which is available on CD, including complete studio preservations of all of her Poulenc work, a 1970 film of "La Voix humaine" which she lip-synched with her voice supplied by a 10 year old recording, and an especially memorable tape of a 1998 master class which demonstrated that she remained in possession of her vocal prowess.