Interview - Bachtrack
Lisette is interviewed in Bachtrack
The Royal Opera: Live in Concert
Royal Opera House
London, UK
2020
Friday
September
04
20:30
September
04
20:30
Soloists
| Soprano | Lisette Oropesa | |
| Bass-Baritone | Gerald Finley | |
| Mezzo-soprano | Aigul Akhmetshina | |
| Tenor | Charles Castronovo | |
| Baritone | Vito Priante | |
| Bass | Jeremy White |
Conductor
Antonio Pappano
About
Following on from #OurHouseToYourHouse, our lockdown series of recorded performances and livestreamed content, we are bringing you two packed evenings of opera and ballet, live from our stage in Covent Garden.
The first of these events features an outstanding cast performing much-loved classics of the opera repertory, joined by current Jette Parker Young Artists, 67 members of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and members of the Royal Opera Chorus, performing together in person for the first time since we closed our doors to the public on 16 March. The concert is hosted by the BBC’s Katie Derham.
Programme for the performance*
W.A. Mozart: Overture from Le nozze di Figaro
G. Rossini: ‘Largo al factotum‘ (The Barber of Seville) – Vito Priante (Figaro)
G. Donizetti: ‘Caro elisir!’ recitative and duet (L’elisir d’amore) – Lisette Oropesa (Adina), Charles Castronovo (Nemorino)
G. Rossini: ‘Non più mesta’ (La Cenerentola) – Aigul Akhmetshina (Angelina), Royal Opera Chorus Tenors and Basses
V. Bellini: La sonnambula, final scene – Lisette Oropesa (Amina), Filipe Manu (Elvino), Royal Opera Chorus
G. Verdi: ‘Forse la soglia attinse’ (Un ballo in maschera) – Charles Castronovo (Riccardo)
G. Verdi: ‘Credo in un Dio crudel’ (Otello) – Gerald Finley (Iago)
J. Offenbach: ‘Scintille, diamant’ (Les Contes d'Hoffmann) – Vito Priante (Dappertutto)
J. Massenet: Recitative and Gavotte (Manon) – Lisette Oropesa (Manon), Royal Opera Chorus Tenors and Basses
G. Bizet: Final act of Carmen – Aigul Akmetshina (Carmen), Charles Castronovo (Don José), Vito Priante (Escamillo), Royal Opera Chorus
G. Puccini: Act I duet and ‘Te Deum’ from Tosca – TBC (Tosca) and Gerald Finley (Scarpia), Filipe Manu (Spoletta), Jeremy White (Sacristan), Royal Opera Chorus
* Please note that participating artists are subject to change due to challenging travel and quarantine restrictions.
The performance will last approximately 2 hours.
Reviews
The Royal Opera: Live in Concert review — Antonio Pappano had brilliant energy
The American soprano Lisette Oropesa partnered Castronovo in a Donizetti duet, but her slinky Manon (the gavotte from Massenet’s opera) and affecting Amina (the finale of La Sonnambula) were more memorable.
— Neil Fisher • The Times
Getting the band back together: Pappano leads The Royal Opera's return to action
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
Royal Opera: Live in Concert was a Covid-secure evening of world-class singing and music-making
There was something deeply affecting in hearing the chorus singing once more in the theatre as Oropesa caught the eye and ear during Amina’s engrossing final scene from La sonnambula (The Sleepwalker) with more than just a little help from Felipe Manu’s cameo as Elvino. (Manu is a promising New Zealand-Tongan tenor and currently on the Jette Parker programme.) There are wondrous qualities in Oropesa’s singing and her voice has such bloom and (if she will forgive me) you could see her diaphragm working overtime to provide secure support and allow her to send Bellini’s phrases soaring. Oropesa clearly had a particularly sensitive understanding of nuance in the combination of notes and words she was singing.
— Jim Pritchard • Seen and Heard International