Classical YouTube Gems: Natalie Dessay Sings Johann Strauss's 'Frühlingsstimmen' (VIDEO)

WATCH: An Operatic Ode To Spring

In a new occasional series, we'll comb the depths of YouTube to bring you the best classical music and opera gems lurking out there.

If the spring weather is already filling you with the urgent desire to jump on top of park benches singing, here's some inspiration by way of Johann Strauss.

The 1882 song "Frühlingsstimmen" ("Voices of Spring"), is, like many of Strauss's most famous compositions, a waltz. Against a bouncy, lilting beat, "Frühlingsstimmen" sets the stage for a coloratura soprano to show off her range and agility.

Here, French soprano Natalie Dessay, in her 1993 debut at the Vienna State Opera, takes on Strauss's ode to spring with exuberant vocal flourish. Though Dessay is known for her commitment as both an actor as well as a singer in her roles, it's her technical prowess that shines through as she spins through line after line of nimble vocal runs (check out her renditions of Offenbach's "Les Oiseaux dans la Charmille" or the mad scene Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor" to get an extended taste).

"Spring in all its splendor rises, all hardship is over, sorrow becomes milder, the belief in happiness returns": While the song's in German, you don't have to understand the language to get the point.

Watch below:

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