Dazzling as the Queen of the Night, deeply moving in Lucia di Lammermoor and La Sonnambula, Natalie Dessay also made her mark on the operatic stage in the roles of Olympia, Manon, Musetta and Cleopatra. After training at the Atelier Lyrique de l'Opera National de Paris and pursuing an international operatic career, Natalie Dessay decided to devote herself to spoken theatre, chansons and the song repertory. The duo she formed in 2011 with her artistic partner Philippe Cassard has given one hundred and thirty-five performances around the world, completely reinventing the song recital as a unique moment of expression, embodiment and shared emotion. Ten years after her last appearance at the Opera Bastille in La Fille du regiment, she has chosen to give her farewell performance on the stage of the Palais Garnier on 31 March 2025. This is the last album from this legendary duo, a fitting way to celebrate the sixtieth birthday of one of the greatest sopranos of her generation.
Legrand: Between Yesterday and Tomorrow / Dessay, London Studio Orchestra
Sony Masterworks
CD
$6.49$12.98Save 50%Jan 05, 2018
Opera News Critic's Choice
Composed by multi-award-winning artist Michel Legrand and written by American poets Alan & Marilyn Bergman, this album is made up of a cycle of songs. It tells the story of a woman’s life from birth to death, passing by all of its highlights: childhood, adolescence, first love, and motherhood. Composed and written in the 70’s, the project was never completed. Thanks to Natalie's input, Michel Legrand rewrote the score and Alan & Marilyn Bergman rewrote the lyrics especially for her in order to give a second life to this project. This masterpiece was recorded last September in London at the Air Studio with the London Studio Orchestra, conducted by Michel Legrand.
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REVIEW:
Dessay is a worthy interpreter. The range of Between Yesterday and Tomorrow is well suited to her new voice, and she is able to delineate each of these songs—and each of these stages, from infancy to dotage—with the acting skills that have long marked her stage career. She is even called on at times to imitate the voice of a young child, and she does so without coyness. Legrand’s score is sweeping, reminiscent of the best of his film music, and it includes some irresistible jazz waltzes as well as low-key, conversational, closely miked passages.
· The first ever German album of Natalie Dessay (Her first Schubert album – Her first Lieder album)· 4 Lieder have never been sung by a woman before· Recorded with Philipp Cassard (piano) in Berlin, Siemensvilla on November 28th – December 3rd, 2016· From Schiller and Goethe to Heine, the Schubertian Lied, which is based on the best German poets, is a reflection of the intimate thoughts of the composer who realizes an outstanding fusion between the poetic verb and the musical lyricism.
The first album of Natalie Dessay for Sony Classical is a journey through music (Great American Song Book, Broadway & Jazz) and art (Edward Hopper) - This is not a classical album. "I was delighted to once again work with Claire Gibault, who now leads her own chamber orchestra, the Paris Mozart Orchestra, more than twenty years after she first accompanied my Mozart performance at the start of my career as a classical singer. It all started with a couple of Edward Hopper paintings that inspired the beautiful stories of poet Claude Esteban, which Graciane Finzi in turn illustrated with her delicate and inventive music. Claire asked me to tell the story of these "melologues". For my part, I selected ten other paintings that inspired me to choose a range of songs from what's known as the "Great American Songbook".
I asked five incredible musicians to arrange them for the Paris Mozart Orchestra, thereby building a bridge between classical music, jazz, and musicals. I then worked to develop a new voice—a deeper and more intimate sound that would whisper into the listener's ear. It was a voice I had to learn to control, like a small, secretive wild animal. I wanted to open things up with "On A Clear Day", which serves as an introduction, and a promise. Next comes a self-deprecating and low-pitched version of "I Feel Pretty" in quintuple time that leads naturally into "I Am A Fool To Want You", a song about someone who is ready to do anything and everything to win over a lost love. "Send In The Clowns" marks the disenchantment of people whose paths cross, but never at the right time. Hope lies just beyond the next bend in the road with "Detour Ahead" followed by "Something's Coming…Maybe Tonight". Next is "Autour de minuit" based on the beautiful poem by Claude Nougaro, which rings with the promise of a brighter tomorrow and of luck that might finally go our way. But the memory of our beloved refuses to fade, and every night we find ourselves back at the counter of a café that echoes with happy memories with "I Keep Going Back To Joe's", except that now it's just us at the bar as we listen to "In My Solitude". It's times like these that make us want to settle down with "A Place You Want To Call Home", but in the end, as "The Two Lonely People" asks, won't we always wind up alone even when we think we have a special someone? What do we have left, then, if not show business? As "There's No Business Like Show Business" tells us, isn't the world just a stage filled? Enjoy your journey through music and paintings with these "Pictures of America"."
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REVIEW:
Dessay sounds in great form and uses every trick in the book. She takes aspects of a Streisand-inspired technique. Taking the cover off the voice mid-note and opening the tone right out to its full; or whittling it down to a sexy, Julie London whisper.
Entre Elle Et Lui / Natalie Dessay, Michel Legrand - Composer: Michel Legrand Performers: Natalie Dessay, Michel Legrand, Catherine Michel, Pierre Boussaguet, After her triumphs in the world's great opera houses, Natalie Dessay crosses over. A tribute to the legendary Michel Legrand who has scored some of the most famous musical soundtracks.
