Natalie Dessay - Elizabeth Vidal - Bell aria duet - Lakme - 1996

[tenorschofield]

Both are extraordinary!!!! they are really as the conductor says "formidables"

Hope to see more of both...BRAVIIII!!!

[eline227]

I would love to listen this concert in live, it's a shame i was only 3 years old :)

[acitipo]

FABULOSAS!!!!!!

las dos con grandes sobre agudos, se ve que Natalie hace menos esfuerzos y sus sobre agudos son mas cristalinos!!!

Pero no desmerece en absoluto a la Vidal!

[acitipo]

FABULOSAS!!!!!!

las dos con grandes sobre agudos, se ve que Natalie hace menos esfuerzos!!!!

[hohina]

Eh bien moi je trouve que la voix d'Elisabeth Vidal est incomparablement plus chaude, riche et naturelle que celle de Nathalie Dessay qui paraît plus métallique. Nathalie est peut-être d'avantage virtuose, mais la virtuosité n'est pas tout. Elisabeth Vidal, c'est une voix de rêve.

[KOKAYT1]

@hohina

Bouh... qu'elle analyse ..l'une est soprane léger et l'autre un peu plus lyrique ... vraiment pas de quoi en faire un plat ,... évidemment qu'une soprane lyrique à plus d'harmoniques ds les graves.. mais est en général moins agile qu'une soprane léger colorture...

Quant à ajouter que Dessay à une voix métallique cela m'amène à penser que vs avez quelques problèmes...

[thomastmwc]

Dessay meilleure

[jpbaryton26]

en 1996, l'opera-comique à Paris a donné Lakmé ; Dessay et Vidal jouaient en alternance un soir sur deux. Jacques MARTIN, à qui la musique classique doit tous ses passages télévisés à une heure de grande écoute, décida d'inviter les deux coloratures pour chanter cet air. Quelle bonne idée et quelle claque pour le pseudo-rivalité entre Divas. Merci Jacques, tu avais raison : on ne reverra jamais ça ! Merci à Coloraturfan pour ce moment rare !

[LeCoconut]

wait, did Vidal sing the G# too?????

[TheJayBee1988]

Yes, she absolutely did. And overall, she's better than Dessay!

[rennelj]

@TheJayBee1988 well now, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Even if not everyone agrees with them.  Personally, I like Dessay better, even though I do think she exploited her voice too much (for which she paid the price).

[zauberkreis]

@LeCoconut i got the same question, but her voice is totally cover by Dessay's.

[doubtletreble]

Vidal has healthier technique

[minkoss]

Okay I am in love with her now! I love her singing and that's amazing she makes dessay sound like a mezzo!!! She can reach those high notes with such clarity! I love Elizabeth Vidal!!! What happened to her? Natalie became a star and I had actually forgotten about her! Is she still singing?

[coloraturafan]

Vidal is still singing very well. She just did a Lakme a few months back. I posted the bell aria on my other youtube account coloraturafan2

[Jarodael]

totally agree with you ! such high notes, effortless reached !

[killerbunny123123]

uhm....I dont rly agree, sorry....i mean look at 3:04 .....dessay reached a G# and she looked as if she was singing under the shower, totally relaxed, while vidal looked as if someone was stepping on her foot...

[PopoliDiTessalia]

@minkoss Disons, mon chéri, que Dessay (que pour une fois je défends) possède une voix d'opéra, et Vidal, elle, a plus l'étoffe vocale d'une gentille divette à contre-notes; à ce jour, je ne comprends toujours pas ce que les gens peuvent lui trouver de si extraordinaire que cela, ça reste quand même assez quelconque; joli certes, mais quelconque. Sans doute ses cheveux blonds et son allure de bonne fée...! :-D

Julien

[minkoss]

@PopoliDiTessalia Julien, julien, julien! Tout d'abord je suis assez content de voir que pour provoquer une reaction de ta part, il faille comparer deux cantatrices et ensuite pour t'apprendre que sans la comparer a Dessay, j ai fini par effectivement me lasser de sa voix. Peut etre en effet un manque de ce je ne sais quoi. En revanche je trouve quand meme un peu dur de la critiquer comme tu le fais. Elle sait quand meme chanter et est une artiste de beaucoup de talent.

[minkoss]

@PopoliDiTessalia Le jour ou toi ou moi sauront maitriser la technique du souffle pour produire un son ou atteindre une note haute, peut etre seront nous en mesure de critiquer le talent des autres.... Ou en realite peut etre saurons mieux apprecier le talent des autre. Cheers Darling.

[jackylen57]

Très joli duo !!!

C'est émouvant de revoir Jacques Martin !

[turitsa]

Sounds surprizingly beautiful without whole orchestra... and duo... unusual and amaizing!

[dollartwenty]

Very impressive.

[lllmozartlll]

Breathtaking performance, merveilleusement bien chante! Many thanks!

[ioSonoCallas]

Un véritable tour de force! Prodigieux!

A real "tour de force"! Prodigious!

[nouch2gether]

Génial!!!!!!!!!!! A cette époque, une égalité parfaite.

Merci Jacques Martin. RIP

[MisterSoprano]

BRAVE! This is great, also Elizabeth is amazing, but still prefere the colour of the voice of Natalie! :)

[Ronizetti]

Beautiful! How unique and absolutely fabulous, on both parts - Bravi - - this aria always leave a haunting echo in ones mind, I love this! Thank you as always to the kind gentleman poster!

[Lanark8]

Bravo!!!

[ozzycouture]

I love that high note at 3:09... I have never heard that note at this point in any Flower Duet I've heard. Great!!

[volcan313]

It's because this is not the flower duet. It's the bell song...

[ermsayshello]

anybody have vidal's 2009 lakmé?

[coloraturafan]

Just audio, it is wonderful :) Should I post a section?

[ermsayshello]

that would be great!

[coloraturafan]

I posted the bell aria on my coloraturafan2 account. Hope you enjoy.

[giuky84mascotte]

I think Dessay's voice is less dry and more creamy. She had that great echo-effect in her picchiettati... awsome! And I think that Vidal (that I love too) pretends to sing the high G. I can hear only Dessay's voice... maybe because it's richer.

[eradesso]

It's funny the way Vidal moves during the high G she looks like a peacock preparing for the wheel..

Delicious. Both of them always been among my top favourites coloraturas. It is indeed sad that Vidal never got the same kind of stardom Dessay received despite having great vocal assets. Her top register is still intact nowadays matter of fact she finished performances of Lakmé this week. I guess not being overly popular helped preserving her voice unlike Dessay who may have exploited her voice.

[dutchtallguy]

I think we should treasure these kind of rear performance's even if they seem to be somewhat odd in the sence that Delibes did not intent this aria to be sung by two soprano's.

[mrrk]

how stupid

[songbirdwatcher]

What a great find. A real novelty. It reminds me of a version of "Glitter and be Gay" that was done as a soprano duet. Dale Kristien and Leigh Munro were the Christine and Carlotta in the LA production of Phantom of the Opera, I believe. So, they played on their rivalry in this duet for a gala performance.

[nectenorboi09]

Ummm, ooooh my goodness, never in my wildest dreams did I think this would happen... you know it says a lot that Vidal still has hung on to those top notes in abundance, whereas Dessay had to give up on extreme ledger lines a while ago....

[MegaCawotte]

It sounds so sweet...

[lumosmaxima]

power combo!

[nicevidbro]

Natalie Dessay always, Vidal sounds hysterical, Dessay is more crystaline.

[Jabe88]

where exactly does she sound hysterical?

I think she even outdid Dessay in some passages, but that's just me...

[nicevidbro]

sorry. She looks hysterical. thats what i tried to say. Aside from that, I think Vidal sounds sloppy in comparison to dessay's timing and phrasing.

[coloraturafan]

Oh no, sorry Vidal is hardly a "sloppy" singer. In 1996 Vidal and Dessay were both is great vocal condition, and I think this duet highlights the best of both singers. How many times do you hear two soprano's hit a high G together? I doubt that you will ever hear that again. We are very lucky to have this wonderfully entertaining video. Coloratura singing at its BEST!

[nicevidbro]

in comparison to dessay.

[FoxyGrandpa]

preach it, brother.

[SsteinwayS]

I agree. Vidal's colouratura are too quick.

[Jabe88]

Sorry but this is funny coming from a Dessay fan... I am sure we have SEEN Dessay far more hysterical and twitchy than Vidal here...

[nicevidbro]

I dont see any dessay fan here.

[BeauTenor]

No, I don't think so. If anything, Dessay sounds (as usual) like her line droops. Her phrasing has never been particularly brilliant; she's never mastered (like so many other younger singers) the art of a legato line.

[nicevidbro]

I did not write my comment to get to know other peoples opinion. To me, Dessay sounds better than Vidal here. I if you dont, great! Put it in another comment. Im tired of people arguing all the time.

[TrebleB4Mi]

this is not a song that should be made into a duet and I agree that Vidal does a ridiculously good job and in my opinion a better job.

[sour7lemon]

The pianist is really having trouble with those pages too!

[sour7lemon]

SO interesting....

[Jabe88]

As much as I love early Dessay, I must say that Vidal at least matches her and should have been also at least as famous

[coloraturafan]

I SO agree!!! Vidal has always been a favorite of mine. I am going to post some more of her younger videos.

[penalcode1]

YES PLEASE! gosh thanks a million

[SENAFOREVER]

Brings back memories...sunday afternoons watching Jacques Martin's show, which always displayed a great variety of quality performers.

Jacques Martin himself had sung parte buffe in french operetta. As seen here, he was A GENTLEMAN, a type seldom encountered on radio or TV nowodays.

[BeauTenor]

Aww...Elizabeth Vidal was always so adorable, and quite a singer...

[volcan313]

They are really crazy to sing a high G# together !!

[DessayBestSinger]

Where did you find that????