Interview - Lisette on 'I Puritani's' Elvira & Her Vast Repertoire

Lisette Oropesa on "I Puritani's" Elvira & Her Vast Repertoire

Lisette sat down with Mike Hardy of OperaWire at the Royal Ballet and Opera, where she is rehearsing the role of Elvira in Bellini's I Puritani. The wide-ranging conversation covered her 2018 Royal Opera debut as Lucia, the singular demands of Elvira, and the far-ranging repertoire that has made her one of the most in-demand artists on the world's stages.

Asked about the line attributed to her—that Elvira is "the absolute peak of a career"—Lisette explained why the role sits in such a narrow window.

"You really can't sing it when you're too young, and you can't sing it when you're too old. You have to be in the right vocal, physical shape… If a company were to say to me: 'We'll write a Puritani for you eight years from now'… I'd probably say no. I think in eight years I won't have another Puritani left."

She described Elvira as a kind of obstacle course—florid and high in some moments, low and lyric in others, and almost Wagnerian in its demand for a big, continuous sound. "For me, 'Puritani' is much more 'mozzarella-like,'" she said, "you've got everything from here to there and everything in between."

On the breadth of her repertoire—Gluck, Händel, Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi, Bizet, Massenet, Bellini and beyond—Lisette said it came about by a little of both accident and design.

"I really love singing in French. I always love singing in French… There's a ton of Bel Canto I can do within reason. I think my voice type is like a universal blood donor. There's a lot of repertoire written for this voice type."

She was candid, too, about the realities of sustaining a career at the top—and about her body as both instrument and adversary, including the acid reflux she has managed for years. Through it all, her gratitude was plain: "I'm blessed that I can even do it."

Lisette sings Elvira in Bellini's I Puritani at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Read the full interview at OperaWire.