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

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

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, 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