The singer's condition prompted her to cancel her appearances as Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos with the Bastille Opera House this past October, as well as two December concerts at the Th_ê¢tre des Champs-Elys_es.

"It's been two and a half years now that I haven't completely regained my voice," Dessay told the Associated Press. "I kept working, but I said to myself, 'I can't keep going like this' because I had completely lost the pleasure of singing."

Dessay intends to begin voice training again in January, and would like to be performing again by the end of next spring.