Natalie Dessay

[Mozart]

How about this one  http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/2M-QHWlF-20

[Lilas Pastia]

Very nice, but Dessay is even better when seen:

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=bnb3m90nl-E

[zamyrabyrd]

For those who get that great classical music station, Mezzo TV, the Daughter of the Regiment will be on July 19th at 20:30 Paris time with the Vienna Phil no less. If this production was done in 2007, it's quite a feat for a 40+ year old to not only try to pass as an adolescent but also succeed. Looks like fun.

ZB
(tinge of jealousy from a person who always felt like a giant around little women)

[zamyrabyrd]

Saturday night at the Opera on TV was great fun with Fille du Regiment. Except for the steam iron and some tacky outfits worn by the chorus, and maybe just too much laundry all over, everything else was in place with Natalie as the undisputed star of the show.

Juan Diego Florez can sure hit a high C over and over again without the straining ("oh is he going to make it?") of other tenors, besides a beautiful bonus high D later on. Monserrat Caballe was also impressive at the age of 74, still able to compete with the younger folk, even if it were hard to understand her French. However, her German as the Baroness sounded very authentic, with all the hauteur that goes with it.

Much appreciated was Natalie's use of ornaments and colorature for expressive purposes rather than the show off of previous eras. But I am still in amazement how it is possible to belt out high C's and a crowning E or Eb in full voice that doesn't eventually lead to vocal deterioration. Maybe she has chords of steel. It seems this type of soubrette-plus role suits her very well.

Donizetti needs also be credited also for a quick-moving, interesting score.

ZB

[Harry]

She is one of  my favorite Sopranos. I love her voice and her clear diction, and her beauty.

[duncan]

There was an interesting interview with Mme. Dessay on BBC Radio 3, it's available until the 28th July here.  She clearly sees herself as an actress who sings.

I'd echo previous comments about her Fille du Regiment, I saw the same production with much of the same cast in London earlier this year and she was the star of a tremendous evening.

[king ubu]

Thanks! Capping things off with this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3kzqzXHp2A

[mc ukrneal]

An amazing interview with great insight, conducted by Charlie Rose:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgRugIHYzsg

Thanks for this. It is not your stock interview at all. She is very articulate, and also able to explain things well and give good examples.

[zamyrabyrd]

An amazing interview with great insight, conducted by Charlie Rose:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgRugIHYzsg

To hear from a person who was endowed with not just a "talented voice" (in the words of one of my teachers) but one that some women would have died for, that singing was really Natalie's second choice and she would rather be known as a singing-actress, is a pity but not really surprising.

I never quite felt that it was the joy or love of singing propelling what she was doing as I did when hearing Lucia Popp or Rita Streich of a similar vocal type. Therefore, she used her ultra high notes in the service of verismo which carries as in the case of Maria Callas, a sell-by date. Conservative singers such as Sutherland and Caballe still made their points through the music without belting out the upper register and kept their voices pristine into their older years.

I sort of remember Mary Garden saying that she also wanted to be known as a singing-actress. I don't think she was vocally endowed as Dessay however. I couldn't help noticing the raspy speaking voice in the video. I used to LOVE hearing Callas speak almost as much as hearing her sing. Even past her career prime, it was rich and magnetic.

ZB