Natalie Dessay

Natalie Dessay (French: [na.ta.li də.sɛ] (listen); born 19 April 1965) is a French singer, actress, and known for her former career as an operatic coloratura soprano. She received wide acclaim in roles such as Olympia in The Tales of Hoffmann, the title role in Lakmé, Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos and the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute. In her later career, she took up 19-century bel canto roles such as Amina in La sonnambula, Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, Violetta in La traviata and added baroque music to her repertoire. Since retiring from opera stage on 15 October 2013 she has pursued a career in theatre and in concert, where she now performs, besides classical, genres such as jazz and chansons. She has made dozens of recordings under the EMI Classics and Virgin Classics label, and then under Warner Classics/Erato Records. Since 2016 she has been recording under Sony Classical Records.