Career

Lugar y fecha: Gran Teatre del Liceu (15/XII/2020) Seductora y carismática, así fue la Violetta Valéry de la estadounidense Lisette Oropesa, éxito personal y ovación en el Liceu. Recuperadas las funciones de La Traviata tras ampliar el tope de 500 espectadores a 1.000, faltaba disfrutar de la tercera de las cuatro Violetta en discordia, vistas ya Kristina Mkhitaryan y Pretty Yende, y a falta de Ermonela Jaho en la última función. Lisette, la más ligera, sorprendió, pues más allá de un primer acto brillante, donde desplegó su instrumento a piacere, Mi bemol al nal del “Sempre libera!” , agudos fáciles, luminosos y timbrados, creció con el desarrollo de la partitura. En su dúo con Germont padre coloreó, buscó expresión y matices, siempre sul ato, con un fraseo detallado, articulando cada frase con una escuela belcantista de primera. En su aria nal “Addio del passato” , la más aplaudida, controló el vibrato, aportó drama y acabó con un pianissimo volátil inolvidable. Brava la Oropesa!

—  Jordi Maddaleno  •  La Vanguardia

Arrive ensuite Donizetti et Lucia di Lammermoor, l’œuvre initialement prévue en cette ouverture de saison et ici “réduite” à un seul air (“Regnava nel silenzio”). Lisette Oropesa, à peine remise de sa déception de ne pouvoir endosser le rôle dans l’entièreté de l’œuvre, déploie dans cet extrait son timbre clair et pur, présentant une incarnation de Lucia portée par l’énergie et une certaine candeur, aussi. 

—  Pierre Géraudie  •  Olyrix

Lisette Oropesa shone both in voice and action as Konstanze in her Staatsoper debut. Demonstrating ownership of the role from the start, she moved through the contrasting lyric and coloratura sections of “Ach ich liebte” with aplomb, soaring to the repeated top Ds with ease.

—  George Jahn  •  Bachtrack

Vocally, these two delivered outstanding contributions. Oropesa’s technique is superb. She is the reigning bel canto queen in my book and the finale from La sonnambula was perfectly pitched, crowned by a sparkling “Ah! non giunge”.

—  Mark Pullinger  •  Bachtrack

Spicca il nome di Lisette Oropesa, soprano statunitense, che proprio con Rossini al ROF di Pesaro si è fatta conoscere due anni fa dal pubblico italiano, e che ora è una certezza del panorama lirico internazionale. Si tratta in effetti di una solida professionista: un soprano lirico-leggero dotato di una tecnica e una personalità interpretativa che le consentono di spaziare in un repertorio che va da Mozart a buona parte dell’Ottocento operistico italiano e francese. La voce, che ha un leggero vibrato e ricorda, come è stato giustamente notato, certe inflessioni timbriche della Gheorghiu, corre senza problemi anche in ampi spazi. L’emissione è rotonda e fluida in tutta la gamma e solo qualche sopracuto a volte risulta meno pieno e timbrato. In “Bel raggio lusinghier” da Semiramide, Oropesa mette subito in luce l’accuratezza del fraseggio, l’accento ben calibrato, l’ottima dizione, dominando senza particolari problemi la tessitura tendenzialmente centrale dell’aria (il ruolo viene concepito da Rossini per la Colbran), dando sfogo al registro acuto e sopracuto nella parte finale, debitamente variata con eleganza e disinvoltura. Le agilità sono buone, ma non trascendentali. Poco filologica, se vogliamo, la scelta di cantare l’aria di Rosina dal Barbiere di Siviglia, “Una voce poco fa”, che Rossini scrive per contralto, con una tessitura che oscilla per la precisione fra contralto e mezzosoprano. Anche qui, nessun problema per Oropesa, che affronta la versione sopranile con facilità, coloratura puntale ed espressiva, senza i bamboleggiamenti tipici dei soprani leggeri che un tempo avevano l’appannaggio del ruolo. Insomma, non sarà una fuoriclasse del canto rossiniano, ma sicuramente Lisette Oropesa si conferma una vocalista e un’interprete di rango.

—  Roberto Mori  •  Conessi all'Opera

Oropesa a conçu Violetta Valéry précisément sur la base solide de la tradition belcantiste, en déployant un chant d'une rare pureté, d'une perfection vertigineuse, d'un équilibre admirable. Elle a un formidable contrôle de la respiration, ce qui lui permet au deuxième acte une exquise énonciation de Dite alla giovine, un moment de rare concentration, dans lequel elle rend le théâtre muet devant la qualité de l’expression, comme absorbée, rêveuse, obtenue grâce à la généreuse amplitude de la tenue de souffle. Et comme on pouvait s'y attendre de la part d'une chanteuse qui maîtrise si bien les ressources de son instrument, la fin du premier acte est admirable pour la limpidité et la précision de la colorature.

—  Antoine Lernez  •  Wanderer

Lisette Oropesa –que al desembre inaugurarà la temporada de la Scala, aportant la millor interpretació de la nit, una ària de l’òpera americana ‘The Ballad of Baby Doe’,

—  Pablo Meléndez-Haddad  •  El Periódico

Lisette Oropesa, in Robert le Diable, raised the spirits.

—  Richard Fairman  •  Financial Times

Lisette Oropesa, taking on the role at the Metropolitan Opera for the first time (according to her official website she had taken it on just 11 times prior to this run), is one of the few artists that can manage to pull off the role with not only the dramatic temperament, but also the vocal consistency.

—  David Salazar  •  Opera Wire

The Star of the Show
American lirico-leggera soprano Lisette Oropesa took on the role of Rosina. She is well-loved by the Parisian audience, as she has stepped into the role of Marguerite di Valois in “les Hugenots” on very short notice last season and then stepped in as well into “L’Elisir d’amore,” combining rehearsals for the Donizetti work while performing the Meyerbeer opera at the Bastille.

All the admiration she received on this particular night was well-deserved. Her timbre is dark, round, and completely even throughout her register. She tops off this combination with amazing, ringing high notes.

She surprisingly sang the famed aria “Una voce poco Fa” in the mezzo-soprano key ( the aria is published in two different keys, with the soprano version one semi-tone higher) delivering sonorous low B naturals and C sharps. Her coloratura technique is depurated and immaculate, as well as her staccato notes and all the high interpolated high notes; it must be said that she was very cautious with variations, maintaining most of the original written lines.

Her duet with Figaro was lively and cunning, again proving her amazing control of the middle voice. Her voice was quite present during the final concertante; choosing this time to sing Berta’s lines which are written for a soprano with two chromatic ascensions to high C; here her voice shined clearly over the rest of the cast, chorus, and orchestra.

She took on her second act aria “Contra un cor” in the soprano key which is one and a half semi tones higher than the mezzo key. Her voice was constantly tasked with high Cs, which she pulled off beauifully. The rest of the aria was a masterful display of vocal fireworks well-rewarded by the audience.

She kept her polished coloratura technique and sweet timbre for the trio with Figaro and Almaviva, and for the final scene, always adding subtle variation in order to preserve the integrity of the original melody.

Oropesa was the true success of the evening, and she received a well-deserved long ovation at the curtain call.

—  Mauricio Villa  •  Opera Wire

When was the last time you caught your breath in surprise? Anyone who is passionate about concerts and frequently attends will agree that this is fairly rare and only happens when expectations are well and truly exceeded. Top performances are always expected from well-known stars but expectations not always met. However, if you sit in a concert at a small music festival where the names of the artists are unfamiliar, the surprise is all the more intense.

This is how the audience found the performance by Lisette Oropesa and Natalia Morozova in Rougemont church. The warm timbre of the soprano was already very moving at the start of Handel’s "V’adoro pupille" by Giulio Cesare.

—  Çetin Köksal  •  Gstaad Life