ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Danielle de Niese - Soprano
Her voice described as a “sweet gleaming soprano,” Danielle de Niese breathes new life into opera, astonishing critics and making audiences sit up and listen.

Why you should listen

It’s not every day that an opera singer is deemed “cool.” But Danielle de Niese does look and act, at times, more like a pop singer than an opera star. Born in Melbourne of Dutch/Scottish/Sri Lankan parents, de Niese started classical voice lessons at 8, and moved at 10 to Los Angeles to attend a school of performing arts, while working as a television presenter on a teen show called LA Kids. But de Niese always knew she would be a singer. At the startlingly young age of 19 she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera, singing Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro. At 25, de Niese stunned audiences and garnered international acclaim with her sultry portrayal of Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare at the 2005 Glyndebourne Festival in the UK.

Gracing the world’s great opera stages and an exclusive recording contract with Decca may seem an unlikely fate for a former teen TV host born Down Under, but de Niese embraces contrasts and challenges. She’s already starred in her own BBC4 reality show, Diva Diaries, and soon fans will be seeing her on the big screen, playing her first major film role in the Maria Callas biopic Master Class.

She says: "What I do demands the same kind of expertise as a professional athlete."

More profile about the speaker
Danielle de Niese | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2011

Danielle de Niese: A flirtatious aria

Danielle de Niese: Kokett ária

Filmed:
882,890 views

Lehet az operaéneklés szexi? Danielle de Niese csodálatos szopránénekesnő bebizonyítja Lehár Ferenc Giuditta című operettjének a Kokett ária "Olyan forró ajkamról a csók" című bevezetőjének eléneklésével. Kíséri: Ingrid Surgenor.
- Soprano
Her voice described as a “sweet gleaming soprano,” Danielle de Niese breathes new life into opera, astonishing critics and making audiences sit up and listen. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:16
(MusicZene)
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(Zene)
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♫ I don't understandmegért myselfmagamat, ♫
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♫ Magam sem tudom, ♫
00:34
♫ why they keep talkingbeszél of love, ♫
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♫ miért beszélnek szerelemről, ♫
00:39
♫ if they come nearközel me, ♫
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♫ mikor férfi a közelemben terem ♫
00:42
♫ if they look into my eyesszemek and kisscsók my handkéz. ♫
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♫ és kezet csókolva merőn néz szemembe. ♫
00:48
♫ I don't understandmegért myselfmagamat, ♫
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♫ Magam sem tudom, ♫
00:51
♫ why they talk of magicvarázslat, ♫
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♫ mi ez a különös varázslat.♫
00:56
♫ that no one withstandsellenáll a, ♫
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♫ Az éhes férfi szem ♫
00:58
♫ if he seeslát me, if he passesbérletek by. ♫
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♫ nem tud másképp rám nézni sem. ♫
01:07
♫ But if the redpiros lightfény is on ♫
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♫ Csak oly könyörgő, lágy nézéssel, ♫
01:13
♫ in the middleközépső of the night ♫
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♫ melyben sürgetően ég a vágy ♫
01:16
♫ and everybodymindenki listenshallgat to my songdal, ♫
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♫ és hogyha jő az este már, ♫
01:20
♫ then it is plainegyszerű to see. ♫
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♫ emberek ezre vár.♫
01:30
♫ My lipsajkak, they give so fierytüzes a kisscsók, ♫
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♫ Olyan forró ajkamról a csók, ♫
01:39
♫ my limbsvégtagok, they are supplerugalmas and whitefehér. ♫
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♫ olyan fehérek e kis kacsók.♫
01:48
♫ It is writtenírott for me in the starscsillagok, ♫
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♫ Olyan selymes és ívelt a pillám, ♫
01:55
thoute shaltmiattad kisscsók, thoute shaltmiattad love. ♫
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♫ pillantásom, mint a villám. ♫
02:02
♫ My feetláb, they glidesuhan and floatúszó, ♫
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♫ Bőröm fehérebb, akár a hó, ♫
02:08
♫ my eyesszemek, they lurecsalétek and glowragyogás. ♫
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♫ Hangom érzéki, vérforraló. ♫
02:17
♫ And I dancetánc as if entrancedelragadtatva, 'causemert I know, ♫
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♫ Mert csak szeretni születtem én, ♫
02:27
♫ my lipsajkak give so fierytüzes a kisscsók. ♫
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♫ olyan forró ajkamról a csók. ♫
03:16
♫ In my veinserek, ♫
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♫ Zsigereim mélyén ♫
03:19
runsfut a dancer'stáncos bloodvér, ♫
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♫ táncos vagyok, akárcsak ♫
03:23
♫ because my beautifulszép motheranya
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♫ anyám hajdanán, a szépség, ♫
03:26
♫ was the QueenKirályné of dancetánc
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♫ a Tánc Királynője ♫
03:29
♫ in the gildedaranyozott AlcazarAlcazar. ♫
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♫ az arany Alcazarban. ♫
03:33
♫ She was so very beautifulszép, ♫
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♫ Oly csodálatos volt, ♫
03:36
♫ I oftengyakran saw her in my dreamsálmok. ♫
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♫ gyakran megjelent álmomban. ♫
03:41
♫ If she beatüt the tambourinetambura
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♫ Ütötte a dobot, ♫
03:44
♫ to her beguilingcsábító dancetánc, all eyesszemek were glowingizzó admiringlycsodálattal. ♫
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♫ oly vad volt tánca, aki látta, annak szeme lobbant lángra. ♫
03:54
♫ She reawakenedújjáéledt in me, ♫
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♫ Véremben van, ♫
03:59
mineenyém is the sameazonos lot. ♫
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♫ nem tehetek róla. ♫
04:02
♫ I dancetánc like her at midnightéjfél
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♫ Hogyha jő az este már ♫
04:05
♫ and from deepmély withinbelül I feel: ♫
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♫ népek ezre vár: ♫
04:15
♫ My lipsajkak, they give so fierytüzes a kisscsók, ♫
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♫ Olyan forró ajkamról a csók,♫
04:24
♫ my limbsvégtagok, they are supplerugalmas and whitefehér. ♫
35
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♫ bőröm fehérebb, akár a hó, hangom érzéki, vérforraló. ♫
04:33
♫ It is writtenírott for me in the starscsillagok, ♫
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♫ A csillagokban is meg van írva, ♫
04:41
thoute shaltmiattad kisscsók, thoute shaltmiattad love. ♫
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♫ csókolni fogsz, szeretni. ♫
05:01
♫ And I dancetánc as if entrancedelragadtatva, 'causemert I know, ♫
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♫ Mert csak szeretni születtem én! ♫
05:13
♫ my lipsajkak give so fierytüzes a kisscsók. ♫
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♫ Olyan forró ajkamról a csók. ♫
05:30
(ApplauseTaps)
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(Taps)
Translated by Melissa Csikszentmihályi
Reviewed by Renata K.

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Danielle de Niese - Soprano
Her voice described as a “sweet gleaming soprano,” Danielle de Niese breathes new life into opera, astonishing critics and making audiences sit up and listen.

Why you should listen

It’s not every day that an opera singer is deemed “cool.” But Danielle de Niese does look and act, at times, more like a pop singer than an opera star. Born in Melbourne of Dutch/Scottish/Sri Lankan parents, de Niese started classical voice lessons at 8, and moved at 10 to Los Angeles to attend a school of performing arts, while working as a television presenter on a teen show called LA Kids. But de Niese always knew she would be a singer. At the startlingly young age of 19 she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera, singing Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro. At 25, de Niese stunned audiences and garnered international acclaim with her sultry portrayal of Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare at the 2005 Glyndebourne Festival in the UK.

Gracing the world’s great opera stages and an exclusive recording contract with Decca may seem an unlikely fate for a former teen TV host born Down Under, but de Niese embraces contrasts and challenges. She’s already starred in her own BBC4 reality show, Diva Diaries, and soon fans will be seeing her on the big screen, playing her first major film role in the Maria Callas biopic Master Class.

She says: "What I do demands the same kind of expertise as a professional athlete."

More profile about the speaker
Danielle de Niese | Speaker | TED.com