Lisette interviewed on the Met Opera Radio ahead of La traviata

On March 9, 2026, Lisette spoke with Met Opera Radio host Debra Lew Harder during the first intermission of Tristan und Isolde to discuss her return to the title role in Verdi's La traviata. In this conversation, Lisette reflects on how her relationship with Violetta has deepened since she last sang the role at the Met in 2020, the emotional and vocal challenges of each act, memories of her mother practicing "Sempre libera" at home, and the fine line between feeling the character's grief and maintaining vocal control on stage.

Debra Lew Harder: Well, Lisette Oropesa, I am so glad to speak with you again so soon. We just chatted before your sensational run of Bellini's I puritani in January, including your Live in HD performance. So first of all, congratulations on all of that.

Lisette Oropesa: Thank you. That's very kind.

Debra Lew Harder: Anything come to mind? What was the happiest moment for you during that run?

Lisette Oropesa: You know, it was just marvelous to see the audiences coming back and coming back and coming back. I had so many friends who came out of the woodwork to the Met to come see I puritani or who watched the broadcast. But also I had people tell me that they came to see two, three, four, five performances because they just wanted to see it again. And I'm so grateful for that. I think that's the real power of our wonderful art form.

Debra Lew Harder: Yes, there's nothing like it. And speaking of Live in HD, I want to mention up top that you'll be hosting the HD of Tristan und Isolde on March 21st. I have to say, all of us in the media team, we were so impressed with how beautifully you hosted the HD of Andrea Chénier back in the winter.

Lisette Oropesa: Thank you. I had a wonderful time. I think being a host during a broadcast, especially one like Tristan or Andrea Chénier as well, is just an opportunity to be in the local community, in the theater. It's a really exciting day, HD day—you know what I mean. It's a really exciting atmosphere and just such a pleasure to be part of it and support my colleagues, which is what ultimately I want to do.

Debra Lew Harder: You seem to bring such joy to that role. So we are really looking forward to the 21st. And also to you reprising the title role in Verdi's La traviata for us. The last time you sang Violetta here was in 2020, right before the pandemic.

Lisette Oropesa: Yeah.

Debra Lew Harder: It's considered one of your signature roles. So before we get into specifics, I would love to know, how has your relationship to this role of Violetta and your approach to it evolved since 2020?

Lisette Oropesa: Yeah, I appreciate you asking that because it is a role that I've lived with already for a long time. It's one of the first roles I ever heard, even as a child. My mom sang La traviata, and I remember hearing her practicing at home all the time.

Debra Lew Harder: Really? Which part?

Lisette Oropesa: "Sempre libera."

Debra Lew Harder: So much "Sempre libera" practice! I mean, that kind of aria, you do need to practice it every day.

Lisette Oropesa: Honest to God. And I used to hear my mom singing it. And for a long time I had it in my psyche, and I never went near the role as a young singer because I really thought it required a more mature sound and a more mature person. But right here at the Met, when I was a young artist and I was coaching with Renata Scotto, and we were talking about other roles that I might sing down the line—I was still really young at the time—but one of the roles that she did mention to me is La traviata. And she said it's a role for an interpreter, which I thought was really gracious of her to say and really wise, because as I'm sure a lot of people know, La traviata is famous for having the three voices necessary because every act is written so differently for the soprano and each act is quite demanding in a totally different way. So you might have a really great strong first act and then you still have to have lyricism for the second act and drama, and then you still have all this stuff you have to do in the last act. We actually just did a rehearsal of the last act today, and she's on stage the entire time, and it's a really taxing, emotionally taxing part. But actually, Debra, I feel as I grow as a person, as a woman, as a singer, I find more—I just dig deeper, and there's more there. I keep digging, and it's like, you know when you dig and maybe you come into something hard eventually, and you go, okay, that's the end—I've reached the bottom of this role. But honestly, I feel like I keep digging and there's just more there. And that's something I wasn't sure would happen for me. I thought, okay, at some point I'm going to age out of this role. It's really high in the first act. At some point I won't be as believable because she's a young woman. I don't know how many years I still have to sing her, but I feel still that I'm just still growing into it. I don't feel that it's in the autumn of my chances with it, if you know what I mean.

Debra Lew Harder: Oh, that's good to know. And it's a work of genius. You will keep finding more treasures within it as a musician. Let's just go through some of these acts that you're mentioning. When we first meet Violetta in Act One, she's young, beautiful, successful. She's a courtesan. She throws fabulous parties. But she's been suffering with a serious illness. And in this first act, what do you want to show us about her?

Lisette Oropesa: Well, something we talked about in rehearsals that came up that was really special is that in the first act, we find within the first ten minutes that she's ill. She has a coughing fit, an episode, if you will. And everybody has to leave the room so she can be alone and compose herself. And this is the first moment we already see she's a vulnerable person. She's not in perfect health. And we were talking about how, you know, when you just got that flu that just won't go away—you get kind of mad. You get tired of dealing with it. There's just so much you need to get back to your life. Ain't nobody got time for that, you know? And that's how she feels. She's not sorry for herself and feeling pitiful. She's more like, why can't I get over this? What is going on? Is this really what it's going to be for how much longer? And she starts to feel quite frustrated. And I think Alfredo comes in just at that moment when she's feeling this vulnerable agitation of having to accept her terminal illness, which I don't think she's ready to do quite yet. That's why she says she wants to be free also of her illness, of her destiny that is something she just can't help. And I feel like it gives her something quite relatable. I know I've certainly been through that as a singer. Gosh, I hate getting sick. It's like the end of the world. So I relate to her in that way.

Debra Lew Harder: That's a really interesting take. And you talked about your mother practicing "Sempre libera." What is your approach technically and emotionally to this huge scene?

Lisette Oropesa: You know, I swear it comes sooner and sooner every time. You're singing the first act and everything's going great, and then it's like you just got warmed up and now it's time to sing the big number. And Verdi writes it in a very dangerous way for the soprano, putting that aria there, because it's massive. It's a really difficult aria to sing. In fact, traditionally we sing it with a cut because there are two verses of the aria, two verses of the cabaletta, and you almost never hear the second verse of the aria—ever, rarely, rarely. So we actually kind of cut some corners on that, but it's tradition, and I don't think we feel like we're cheating the score. However, I do think that by the time you get to this aria and you're finished with it and the end of the first act is there, then you go, okay. And you get a small break before your next big scene, which is the duet with Germont. So you have to be careful in the first act, Debra, to not put all of your eggs into the first act basket—to just remember you need to save some for the other acts because they do require a lot vocally as well.

Debra Lew Harder: Of course, everybody's waiting for it. It's a huge showstopper. But you do have Act Two where the stakes are incredibly high for Violetta. Just for our listeners, a little recap: She's given up her life of partying and wealth for her true love, Alfredo. And in the first scene, the two are living in the country away from Paris. She is actually supporting him. And his father, Germont, arrives to basically demand that she give up Alfredo. This scene doesn't have a lot of physical action, but it sure is a psychological minefield. What is Violetta going through in this scene?

Lisette Oropesa: You know, she's trying very hard to defend her position to Alfredo's father, while at the same time knowing perfectly well what the rules of society dictate. And they're not in her favor. And she does try to convince him—look, I love Alfredo. I'm not the same person I used to be. And she also says, I'm sick and dying and I don't know how much longer I'm going to be on this earth. And she says, he hasn't given me any of his money. If that's what you're trying to imply, that he's spending his fortune on me, that's not true. In fact, you've misunderstood the whole situation. She absolutely lays it all out for Papa Germont. She does not hide any truth from him, which I love because she is the kind of person that in her vulnerability is very direct. She doesn't play mind games. He does. He plays awful mind games with her the entire act.

Debra Lew Harder: Manipulates her.

Lisette Oropesa: Yes. He says, you know, my son will tire of you. You're beautiful and young, but that doesn't last forever. At some point he's going to move on and you can't get married. In this society, you couldn't enter a church. So I feel like she has to navigate him being emotionally manipulative and quite cruel, and being honest and direct and clear to him, saying, look, I'll do this for Alfredo. She does give in, but she does it for Alfredo's sister, who is at the beginning of her young life and about to go off and get married. And Violetta thinks, you know what, if my father had been like Papa Germont, I wouldn't be in this situation. I would never have had to be a courtesan. Maybe I could have been an honorable person. Maybe I could have married and had children and lived a normal life. But instead, her father absolutely abandoned her from a very young age. And so this example of this young girl at the start of her life—Violetta goes, you know, if I move aside, this young girl has a chance, a better chance at life.

Debra Lew Harder: It's so noble of her. And how do you show that in your voice?

Lisette Oropesa: You have to use whatever colors the text and the music that Verdi so brilliantly writes. You just have to trust that. It's all there.

Debra Lew Harder: Just in his phrasing and the notes he gives you, you can show everything.

Lisette Oropesa: It's in the articulation. It's in the register that it's written, the times that it goes up, the times that it goes down. It's in the rests that she takes. It's not always long lines. Sometimes there are rests in the middle of words that mean something. Sometimes there are accents. Sometimes there are short, very short clipped phrases. It's all in the music.

Debra Lew Harder: Wow, I'm going to have to listen very carefully. That's a wonderful insight. This is Met Opera Radio on SiriusXM, and we are speaking with soprano Lisette Oropesa during our first intermission of Tristan und Isolde tonight. I would love for you to share your thoughts about the final act, which takes place in Violetta's last hours when she's alone and destitute. Her famous farewell, "Addio del passato," is crucial to the whole opera. What do you want to convey to us in this final act?

Lisette Oropesa: You know, it's a really low point for her. She's certainly having a really hard time keeping her hope alive, because they're not coming. They're not returning. She's not healing. The doctor's telling her she's going to be fine, and she knows that that's a lie. Her maid, the only friend she has left in the world, basically told her, look, we have no money. This is it. And Violetta has nothing to live for. And that aria is literally a goodbye to life. If I have to die now, well, I'm going to be dead and no one's even going to mourn me. And there will be no cross and there will be no flowers on my grave. She's quite pessimistic, but also realistic because, as I said, she understands society very well. And it's heartbreaking. I try very hard—I mean, it's easy to fall into the trap of going with the sadness. You can one hundred percent get taken away by the sadness as a performer. It's very easy. I know when I'm listening I get taken away by the sadness all the time. But when I'm performing, I have to be careful that I don't ride the wave of the sadness too much, because she's still our hero, our protagonist. And if an audience member doesn't know that Violetta is destined to die, I don't want them to know that yet. I want them to think maybe she'll be all right.

Debra Lew Harder: Do you have to separate yourself a little bit from that incredible sadness?

Lisette Oropesa: Yes. Listen, there is a fine line that you tread when you're working on this music—on any music, but particularly roles that are tragic—where you need to go there in rehearsal, in preparation. You need to go all the way into that real feeling of all those negative, painful things: death, sadness, separation, loss, losing your lover, losing your child, whatever it is that character is feeling. You have to go there at some point. You cannot avoid it forever. However, when you're actually doing the performance, you have to know where your intelligent edge is so that you can continue to sing. Because when I sing and I get choked up, I literally get choked up—my throat closes completely if I start to cry or something. So I really cannot go that far.

Debra Lew Harder: Has that ever happened to you?

Lisette Oropesa: Yes. Early on in rehearsals, for sure that's happened. It's happened on stage in concerts before. I was doing a St. Matthew Passion. I was a soloist listening to the chorales, the Bach chorales that are all about the Passion of the Christ—these hymns that are just heartbreaking. And I'm losing my mind, bawling. And the tenor sitting next to me passes me a handkerchief. And I'm just like, oh my God, I'm so embarrassed. But yes, I have been there.

Debra Lew Harder: I'm sure the audience was moved, actually. Very quickly about this last act—in your dying moments, how do you project to the last row of the house? What do you physically do to make sure your voice gets there?

Lisette Oropesa: Well, she has a moment where she feels good again. So you can lighten up in your face. You can lighten up in your body. Instead of being heavy in your body and hunched over, you can really stand upright. In fact, she stands up on the bed and it's like, I'm going to be okay. Gioia!

Debra Lew Harder: Gioia, exactly. I think that does it. Thank you so much, Lisette.

Lisette Oropesa: Thank you.