It was all the more anticipated because she had declined the invitation to perform the role of Blanche de la Force in the “Dialogues of the Carmelites” at the season’s opening at the Nice Opera. In return, she promised the Nice audience an exceptional concert. She delivered it on Thursday, October 21, at the Acropolis in a program divided into two parts: vocalises more or less inspired by those recorded in 1998 with the Berliner Sinfonie for EMI Classics and two main arias -only- from her favorite works: the “Cours La Reine” from Manon by J. Massenet and “Sempre Libera” in Verdi’s La Traviata. The concert was interspersed with musical pieces, including several overtures, Edouard Lalo’s “Le Roi d’Ys,” “Wuthering Heights” (Les Hauts de Hurlevent) opera written by the maestro of the evening, and Verdi’s “I Vespri siciliani,” all performed by the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Nice Opera under the direction of Frédéric Chaslin, recently appointed Music Director of the Santa Fe Opera in the United States. Despite his vigorous impetus and clear generosity in his relationship with the Philharmonic, the French conductor tended to favor partial sound effects and exaggerate the highlighting of sequences at the expense of a more general harmony. At the risk, for instance, of overplaying the brass in the first piece or diminishing the sensitivity present in the “Wuthering Heights” Overture by the questionable choice of thickening certain melodic features.
As for Natalie Dessay, let us be frank: she disappoints. Recently honored with the title of Kammersängerin by the Vienna State Opera -itself led for the first time by the French Dominique Meyer who just triumphed with a contemporary opera at the season opening- the soprano remains a passionate, fiery, earthy personality. Her overflowing energy demands the theatrical space of stages: she is known to shake directors with her interpretative daring. Needless to say, the register of sweet vocalises does not suit her. It even ends up tiring. Clearly, this exercise that constrains her body further hinders her extraordinary vocal abilities: to the point of causing breathing errors and making her swallow some notes in the Rachmaninov piece. Usually enchanting, her voice timbre is also affected, as well as some of her high notes. One might have thought she would be more at ease in the second part, distinctly more bel canto. Strangely, it was hardly better: unless it is a serious acoustic problem of this Acropolis hall -which one hopes while regretting- the words of Manon remained inaudible throughout. More free in the tormented and dramaturgical expressiveness of the “Sempre libera,” Natalie Dessay ends the evening much better than she started. The enthusiastic applause that concluded the performance did not prevent skeptical looks, even criticism, from emerging upon exit. Indeed, the relationship of voice to psyche in singers of immense talent remains an indecipherable enigma.
