Lisette Oropesa in the lounge of The Royal Opera House in London.

Thank you so much to Ben Lawrence for talking with me about my time as Violetta Valery in La traviata at the Royal Opera House.

She tells me she has a love of literature (the Brontës are an obsession), and I wonder whether that is why she has such a close, intellectually driven understanding of the text which brings out Violetta’s struggle with the divine.

“For a courtesan, she talks a heck of a lot about God,” says Oropesa. “When she leaves her past life behind she talks about God’s forgiveness, about repentance. You know, ‘God forgives me because that is what God does.’

“And when she doesn’t get better, she gets angry, because she feels the trust she put in Him has been betrayed. He has let her die young.”

Lisette Oropesa Portrait
Lisette Oropesa

Lyric coloratura soprano Lisette Oropesa is one of the most in-demand artists on the stages of the world, performing at leading opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Wiener Staatsoper, and Opéra National de Paris.

Upcoming Performances
Manon

Opernhaus Zürich

Sept. 24, 27 , Oct. 03, 07, 10

La traviata

Staatsoper Unter den Linden

Oct. 17

Roméo et Juliette

Staatsoper Unter den Linden

Oct. 26, 29 , Nov. 01, 06

La traviata

Bayerische Staatsoper

Nov. 11, 14, 16, 20