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: Un aria seductora

Filmed:
882,890 views

¿La ópera puede llegar a ser tan sexy? La magnífica soprano Danielle de Niese nos muestra cómo, cantando la seductora aria "Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss" que traducida significa: "Mis labios besan con tanta pasión". De la opereta Giuditta de Franz Lehár y con el acompañamiento de 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
(MusicMúsica)
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(Música)
00:31
♫ I don't understandentender myselfmí mismo, ♫
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♫ Yo misma no sé ♫
00:34
♫ why they keep talkinghablando of love, ♫
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♫ por qué los hombres me hablan de amor ♫
00:39
♫ if they come nearcerca me, ♫
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♫ cuando se me acercan, ♫
00:42
♫ if they look into my eyesojos and kissBeso my handmano. ♫
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♫ cuando me miran a los ojos y besan mi mano. ♫
00:48
♫ I don't understandentender myselfmí mismo, ♫
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♫ Yo misma no sé ♫
00:51
♫ why they talk of magicmagia, ♫
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♫ por qué hablan de la magia ♫
00:56
♫ that no one withstandsresiste, ♫
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♫ que ningún hombre puede resistir ♫
00:58
♫ if he seesve me, if he passespasa by. ♫
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♫ cuando me ve o pasa por mi lado. ♫
01:07
♫ But if the redrojo lightligero is on ♫
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♫ Pero cuando se enciende la luz roja ♫
01:13
♫ in the middlemedio of the night ♫
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♫ a la media noche ♫
01:16
♫ and everybodytodos listensescucha to my songcanción, ♫
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♫ y todos me escuchan cantar ♫
01:20
♫ then it is plainllanura to see. ♫
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♫ entonces me doy cuenta del por qué: ♫
01:30
♫ My lipslabios, they give so fieryardiente a kissBeso, ♫
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♫ mis labios besan con tanta pasión, ♫
01:39
♫ my limbsextremidades, they are suppleflexible and whiteblanco. ♫
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♫ mis extremidades son flexibles y suaves. ♫
01:48
♫ It is writtenescrito for me in the starsestrellas, ♫
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♫ En las estrellas está escrito ♫
01:55
thou shaltShalt kissBeso, thou shaltShalt love. ♫
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♫ que los hombres me besarán y me amarán. ♫
02:02
♫ My feetpies, they glideplaneo and floatflotador, ♫
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♫ Mis pies flotan, vuelan. ♫
02:08
♫ my eyesojos, they lureseñuelo and glowbrillo. ♫
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♫ En mis ojos brilla la llama del deseo ♫
02:17
♫ And I dancebaile as if entranceden trance, 'cause'porque I know, ♫
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♫ y bailo en un frenesí porque sé que ♫
02:27
♫ my lipslabios give so fieryardiente a kissBeso. ♫
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♫ mis labios besan con tanta pasión. ♫
03:16
♫ In my veinsvenas, ♫
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♫ En mis venas ♫
03:19
runscarreras a dancer'sbailarina bloodsangre, ♫
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♫ corre la sangre de una bailarina ♫
03:23
♫ because my beautifulhermosa mothermadre
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♫ porque mi bella madre ♫
03:26
♫ was the QueenReina of dancebaile
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♫ era la reina de la danza ♫
03:29
♫ in the gildeddorado AlcazarAlcázar. ♫
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♫ en el Alcázar dorado. ♫
03:33
♫ She was so very beautifulhermosa, ♫
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♫ Ella era tan hermosa, ♫
03:36
♫ I oftena menudo saw her in my dreamsSueños. ♫
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♫ a menudo la veo en sueños. ♫
03:41
♫ If she beatgolpear the tambourinepandereta
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♫ Cuando ella tocaba la pandereta, ♫
03:44
♫ to her beguilingseductor dancebaile, all eyesojos were glowingbrillante admiringlyadmirativamente. ♫
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♫ en su danza seductora, todos los ojos la miraban con ardor. ♫
03:54
♫ She reawakenedreactivado in me, ♫
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♫ Ella ha vuelto a vivir en mí, ♫
03:59
minemía is the samemismo lot. ♫
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♫ comparto su misma suerte. ♫
04:02
♫ I dancebaile like her at midnightmedianoche
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♫ Bailo como ella a la medianoche ♫
04:05
♫ and from deepprofundo withindentro I feel: ♫
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♫ y desde lo más profundo de mi ser siento que: ♫
04:15
♫ My lipslabios, they give so fieryardiente a kissBeso, ♫
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♫ mis labios besan con tanta pasión, ♫
04:24
♫ my limbsextremidades, they are suppleflexible and whiteblanco. ♫
35
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♫ mis extremidades son flexibles y suaves. ♫
04:33
♫ It is writtenescrito for me in the starsestrellas, ♫
36
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♫ En las estrellas está escrito ♫
04:41
thou shaltShalt kissBeso, thou shaltShalt love. ♫
37
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♫ que los hombres me besarán y me amarán. ♫
05:01
♫ And I dancebaile as if entranceden trance, 'cause'porque I know, ♫
38
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♫ Y bailo en un frenesí porque sé que ♫
05:13
♫ my lipslabios give so fieryardiente a kissBeso. ♫
39
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♫ mis labios besan con tanta pasión. ♫
05:30
(ApplauseAplausos)
40
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(Aplausos)

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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