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Denise Duval, born October 23, 1921, is a French soprano, best known for her performances in works by the composer Francis Poulenc. Duval created the roles of Elle in La voix humaine, Therese in Les Mamelles de Tiresias and Blanche de la Force in Dialogues of the Carmelites, ie. all of the operas by Poulenc. She continued to be closely associated with Poulenc, who in a sense 'discovered' her, and undertook many tours with him towards the end of his life as a duo chansons partnership. She is also noted for her performances of works by Roussel and Ravel and her voice is characterised by a general fragility in strength, an intonational precision marked by a lack of vibrato, and a manner of articulation wherein the delivery of notes lies slightly behind the beat. She is particularly effective in roles where emotion is ironic or neo-classical in nature, but not explicitly anti-romantic.
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