[2][3] Elisa Frandin studied voice at the Conservatoire de Paris with Joseph-Théodore-Désiré Barbot and Louis-Henri Obin.

[4] Frandin, who sang soprano and mezzo-soprano parts, made her professional debut in Paris in 1881, in Grissart's Les Poupées de l'Infante.

Frandin sang in operas in Cairo, Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Berlin, and many Italian cities.

Her repertoire included roles in Lakmé by Delibes (1883),[5] Bizet's Carmen,[6] Verdi's Aida, Maillart's Les dragons de Villars, Auber's Le Domino Noir, Boito's Mefistofele, Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana, Massenet's Werther and La Navarraise (1895–1896),[7][8] and Leoncavallo's La bohème (1897).

[11] Frandin survived a train accident in 1893, but lost all her theatrical luggage, including costumes and jewelry; she was compensated with ₤500,000 by the railway company.