LISETTE OROPESA and IL POMO D’ORO team up for Mozart Concert Aria debut album

After more than a decade of acclaimed performances on the world’s leading operatic stages, soprano Lisette Oropesa signs a 5-year deal with the San Francisco Classical Recording Company (SFCRC.) Topping the list of projects to be released exclusively under the PENTATONE label, is her solo album debut: a recording of Mozart Concert Arias with the orchestral ensemble Il pomo d’oro, conducted by Antonello Manacorda.

This release is the first soloist + orchestral album for the acclaimed soprano, who for 15 years has been building a career that has brought her to the forefront of the operatic world. In leading roles such as La traviata, Manon, Lucia di Lammermoor, and others, Lisette has appeared on some of the world’s most important operatic stages, including the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, and The Royal Opera House-Covent Garden. Her repertoire spans from Handel and Mozart, to Bel Canto, to Verdi, and the great French composers.

“Mozart is my foundation. As a young musician, I grew up studying the flute, and fell in love with the Mozart style when learning the various concertos. Now as a soprano, I still feel the impulse to bring my instrumental training to the voice when I interpret the music of Mozart or any other composer,” says Lisette Oropesa.

Job Maarse, managing director of SFCRC and producer of the upcoming projects, says “I had followed Lisette’s career for quite a while. But when I heard her sing La traviata at the Met I was completely overwhelmed and simply had to ask her if she would be interested in signing with SFCRC. Our Mozart recording is a wonderful opportunity to show off her incredible voice, her brilliant technique and her passion for her work. Antonello Manacorda and Il pomo d’oro are the perfect partners for this dynamic Mozart Concert Arias recording. I am already very much looking forward to future projects with Lisette.”

Italian-French conductor Antonello Manacorda is a former violinist and concert master, whose career has taken him to the world’s major opera houses as well as the podiums of leading symphony orchestras. A gifted Mozart interpreter, Manacorda is also set to conduct Lisette in her debut at the Wiener Staatsoper, where she will sing Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail.

Manacorda says, “I was already looking forward to the Entführung in Vienna with Lisette but when the opportunity of recording concert arias came I was totally overwhelmed.
I have followed Lisette’s voice for a long time because I’m fascinated by the rather dark timbre of a voice that has such a big range. In our days it’s rare to hear a singer that has such a specific sound and drive.
Mozart Concert Arias are a big tour de force. They are all “mini-operas” which have to be staged without a director and in this case without the visual part.
Lisette is the IDEAL interpreter of these jewels!”