From the Bee Gees to Francis Lalanne, Natalie Dessay’s youthful airs

Passionate about the circus and classical dance when she was a child, the singer looks back on the music that rocked her childhood and adolescence.

Where did you spend your childhood and in what environment?
I grew up in Saint-Médard-en-Jalles, in the suburbs of Bordeaux. My father was an engineer, my mother looked after my brother and me. I was an outgoing little girl, a very good student and passionate about the circus. With my little neighbor, whom I met at the age of 5 and whom I still see, we spent hours inventing numbers on the garden swing. Since I also did classical dance, my specialty was the trapeze. After my baccalaureate, I did a year of German at university, while studying drama at the Bordeaux conservatory.

Did your parents listen to music?

My parents had a large collection of opera and instrumental classical music records. I remember my father listening to Beethoven’s symphonies over and over in the car. My mother loved Maria Callas. They also had a few albums of French songs, including those by Georges Brassens, Jacques Brel, Barbara and Jean Ferrat. On Saturday evenings, we watched Maritie and Gilbert Carpentier’s shows as a family. The guest singers, often in costume, shared and exchanged songs. I liked the festive side of the program, which resembled a French musical comedy.

What is your favorite song or music from your childhood?

I discovered Swan Lake et The Sleeping Beauty, by Tchaikovsky, while doing classical dance. Even today, he is one of my favorite composers. Russian music, romantic, passionate and very inventive, has always touched me deeply. As a teenager, I listened to the radio on repeat in my room. I made compilations on audio cassettes of titles that I liked. I loved Supertramp and the Bee Gees, who I heard in the film Saturday night fever. I was 12 when it came out. The voices of the singers and the choreography of John Travolta totally seduced me.

What was the first concert you attended?

As a child, my parents often took me to see ballets. I remember Scheherazade, by Rimsky-Korsakov, at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, with Francesca Zumbo. Passionate about dance, I learned about it by reading or watching ballets on television. I adored Noëlla Pontois, Dominique Khalfouni, Ghislaine Thesmar and Maïa Mikhaïlovna Plisetskaïa, my absolute idol. When I was 15, I went to a Francis Lalanne concert, of whom I was a fan! Crazy generous on stage, his show lasted four hours. He returned without his musicians to finish the concert alone on guitar and vocals. At the same time, I also saw a concert by the singer Lucid Beausonge, who I found brilliant.

Did you learn music as a child?
I vaguely took piano lessons at the age of 7, without much enthusiasm. I became a singer a little by chance. While I played the role of an opera-loving marquise in a play with my friends at the conservatory, I sang an aria from Pamina from The Magic Flute. Surprised by my voice, everyone advised me to take singing lessons. This is how I found myself a student in the singing class at the conservatory, then in private lessons. I understood that opera would be, for me, the best way to interpret a character on stage. After joining the Choir of the Capitole de Toulouse and then that of the Bordeaux Opera, I took competitive exams, including that of Voix Nouvelles, which opened the Paris Opera School to me. At 25, I felt ready to begin a career as a soloist.