Natalie Dessay (French: [natali dəsɛ]; born April 19, 1965) is a French soprano, best known for singing in operas before retiring from the opera stage in 2013. She became well-known after performing the role of Olympia in The Tales of Hoffmann in 1992. She later performed at major opera houses, including the Paris Opera, Vienna State Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera.

Early in her career, she sang roles that required high, fast notes in German and French operas, such as Olympia in The Tales of Hoffmann, the main character in Lakmé, Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, and the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute. After two surgeries on her voice, she began singing heavier roles, such as Amina in La sonnambula, Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, Marie in La fille du régiment, and Violetta in La traviata. She also performed Baroque music with Emmanuelle Haïm. After retiring from the opera stage, she continued her career in theatre and concerts, performing classical music as well as jazz and chansons.

She recorded many songs for EMI Classics and Virgin Classics, and later for Erato Records and Warner Classics. Since 2016, she has recorded music for Sony Classical Records.

Early and personal life

Nathalie Dessaix was born in Lyon and grew up in Saint-Médard-en-Jalles, where she took some singing lessons with Madame Saintrais, a former singer at the Bordeaux Opera. She removed the silent "h" from her first name to honor Natalie Wood during her time in grade school and later changed the spelling of her last name. As a young person, she wanted to be a ballet dancer and then an actress. After giving up German, she began taking acting lessons with Gérard Laurent at the Conservatoire de Bordeaux. At age 20, her singing ability was noticed when she performed as a singing lutin and hummed Pamina's aria from Molière's Le Sicilien ou l'Amour peintre. She was encouraged to take singing lessons afterward. After winning first prize in her studies, she joined the choir at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse. In 1988, she won the first edition of the "Voix Nouvelles" competition, organized by France Télécom, and was allowed to study for a year at the "École d'art lyrique" of the Paris Opera, where she sang the role of Elisa in Mozart's Il re pastore. In 1990, she won first prize at the International Mozart Competition in Vienna. Since 1991, she has worked with her private tutor, tenor Jean-Pierre Blivet.

Nathalie first met bass-baritone Laurent Naouri in 1989. They married in August 1994, and she converted to his Jewish faith. The couple has two children, Tom-Solal (born 1995) and Neïma-Judith (born 1998). The family lives in La Varenne-Saint-Hilaire.

Career

Dessay was quickly invited by several regional theaters to perform in roles such as Blonde in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Madame Herz in Der Schauspieldirektor, and Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos. In 1990, she performed Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro at the Opéra de Marseille, Bettina in Don Procopio at the Opéra-Comique, and Néméa in Si j'étais roi at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie. In December 1991, she sang Adele in Die Fledermaus at the Grand Théâtre de Genève.

In April 1992, she made her debut at the Paris Opera, singing the role of Olympia in The Tales of Hoffmann with José van Dam. The production was not well received, but it marked the beginning of her rise to fame. In 1993, she joined the Vienna State Opera as Blonde in Mozart’s Die Entführung. Later that year, she replaced Cheryl Studer in the role of Olympia in a production of Hoffmann. After attending a performance where Barbara Bonney sang Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier, Dessay was cast in the same role with another conductor. In addition to Olympia, Blonde, and Zerbinetta, her most well-known roles, she also performed Italian Singer in Capriccio, Aminta in Die schweigsame Frau, and Fiakermilli in Arabella with the company.

Dessay sang her first Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute at the 1994 Aix-en-Provence Festival in a production directed by Robert Carsen, which received praise from critics. She later performed the role at the Opéra National de Lyon, Salzburg Festival, Opéra Bastille, and Vienna State Opera. In October 1994, she made her debut at the New York Metropolitan Opera as Fiakermilli. In 1995, she performed the title role in Lakmé at the Opéra-Comique and debuted at La Scala in The Tales of Hoffmann. In 1996, she sang the role of Ophélie in Hamlet opposite Simon Keenlyside at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. A new production of Hamlet by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier was later revived in 2003 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and the Liceu with Dessay in the same role.

In 1997, she performed the title role in Stravinsky’s The Nightingale at the Théâtre du Châtelet, conducted by Pierre Boulez and staged by Stanislas Nordey. She returned to the Metropolitan Opera in September as Zerbinetta and later performed in Offenbach's Orphée aux enfers at the Opéra de Lyon. In 1998, she sang Olympia at the Met and performed Tytania in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Aspasia in Mozart’s Mitridate, re di Ponto in Lyon. In 1999, she took on the role of Amina in La sonnambula at the Lausanne Opera. She worked with William Christie on several projects, including a new production of Handel’s Alcina at the Palais Garnier and a new production of Rameau’s Les Indes galantes at the Paris Opera.

Dessay sang the role of Olympia in Robert Carsen’s new production of The Tales of Hoffmann, which premiered on 22 March 2000 at the Opéra Bastille. She performed in Hamlet at the Théâtre du Capitole and later at the Théâtre du Châtelet. In July 2000, she opened a new production of The Tales of Hoffmann at the Chorégies d'Orange. Later that year, she sang the role of Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail at the Grand Théâtre de Genève and performed the Queen of the Night for the last time at the Palais Garnier on 24 December 2000.

Dessay began 2001 by performing La sonnambula at La Scala. In February, she participated in a co-production of Die schweigsame Frau at the Théâtre du Châtelet. During the 2001/02 season in Vienna, Dessay faced vocal difficulties and was replaced in most performances of La sonnambula. She canceled several other performances, including the French version of Lucia di Lammermoor in Lyon and a performance of Zerbinetta at the Royal Opera House in London. She left the stage and had surgery to remove a vocal cord nodule in July 2002.

She returned to the stage in March 2003 in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Met and later performed in the premiere of Laurent Pelly’s new production of the opera at the Palais Garnier. In the summer of 2003, she gave her first US recital in Santa Fe. She was so impressed by Santa Fe that the Santa Fe Opera rearranged its schedule to include her in a new production of La sonnambula during the 2004 season. In 2004, she performed her first Italian Lucia at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and her first Manon by Massenet at the Grand Théâtre de Genève.

In the 2004/05 season, she withdrew from Ariadne auf Naxos at the Opéra Bastille and canceled concert performances at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. She had surgery to remove a polyp on her other vocal cord and began vocal training afterward.

Dessay returned to the stage in a benefit concert at the Opéra de Montréal on 8 May 2005 and later performed in Haydn’s The Creation at the Festival de Saint-Denis. In November, she starred as Juliette in Roméo et Juliette at the Metropolitan Opera. She withdrew from the premiere on 14 November due to illness but returned for later performances. In 2006, she performed in La Traviata at the Opéra Garnier

Artistry

Dessay highlights the acting part in opera and refers to herself as a "singing actress" (une actrice qui chante). She once explained:

Awards and honours

• Asteroid named 33345 Nataliedessay
• Won Singer of the Year (Artiste lyrique de l'année) at the Victoires de la musique classique in 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2005
• 2002: Received the Prize for Music from the Simone and Cino Del Duca Foundation, awarded by the Académie des Beaux-Arts
• 2003: Became a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
• 2008: Won the Laurence Olivier Award for her performance of La fille du régiment at Covent Garden
• 2008: Received the Opera News Award
• 2008: Received the Prize in honorem from the Académie Charles-Cros for her entire career
• 2010: Became an Austrian Kammersängerin
• 2011: Became a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour
• 2011: Received the Laurent-Perrier Grand Century Prize
• 2015: Became a Commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

Discography

• Time Regained (1999, Jorge Arriagada)
• Joyeux Noël (2006, Philippe Rombi)
• La boîte à joujoux (2007, audio story for children)
• La petite sirène (2008, audio story for children)
• Le lac des cygnes (2017, audio story for children)

• Entre elle et lui (collaboration with Michel Legrand) (2013)

Films

• Stravinsky: Le rossignol (2005)
• Becoming Traviata (2012)
• Rio 2 as Gabi (2014)
• Dilili in Paris as Emma Calvé (2018)