Lisette Oropesa has sung the role of Susanna in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro twice for Chicago-area audiences (Ravinia 2010, 2014). While Mozart is a specialty of hers, Chicagoans have yet to experience the bel canto repertoire for which the Cuban-American soprano is sought-after by opera companies all over the world. Her 2018 debut in Lucia di Lammermoor at Madrid’s Teatro Real brought her to international attention, drawing comparisons to the legendary interpreters of the Donizetti tragedienne. Oropesa joins WFMT to talk about singing Mozart and bel canto in advance of her Lyric Opera debut in The Daughter of the Regiment.
Watch Lisette Oropesa in her breakout performance of Lucia di Lammermoor.
Playlist
All selections feature soprano Lisette Oropesa.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Alcandro, lo confesso…Non so d’onde viene, K.294 (fragment)
Il pomo d’oro
Antonello Manacorda, conductor
Gaetano Donizetti: “Prendi per me sei libero” from L’elisir d’amore
Michael Borowitz, piano
Mozart: Vado, ma dove?, K. 583
Mozart: Ah se in ciel, benigne stelle, K. 538
Il pomo d’oro
Antonello Manacorda, conductor
Donizetti: “Par le rang et par l’opulence…Salut à la France” from La fille du régiment
Saxon State Opera Chorus, Dresden
Dresden Philharmonic
Corrado Rovaris, conductor
Giuseppe Verdi: “Dammi tu forza, o cielo!” from La traviata
René Barbera, tenor
Dresden Philharmonic
Daniel Oren, conductor
Gioacchino Rossini: “En proie a la tristesse” from Le comte Ory
Saxon State Opera Chorus, Dresden
Dresden Philharmonic
Corrado Rovaris, conductor
