Critical Roundup: I Puritani at the Royal Opera House

Critical Roundup: I Puritani at the Royal Opera House

Thirty-four years after its last outing at Covent Garden, Bellini's I Puritani returned to the Royal Opera House in a new staging by Richard Jones, with Riccardo Frizza making his house debut in the pit. Critics split over the costumes and the concept. On one point the London press barely disagreed: this was Lisette's night, and her Elvira is the finest to be heard anywhere right now.

What follows gathers what the critics wrote — the national broadsheets, the specialist opera press, the lot. Several came with four stars. Nearly all came to the same conclusion.

The Times — Neil Fisher (★★★★)
"You cannot present I puritani without an Elvira who can dazzle. Oropesa fills those large shoes… how nuanced and devastatingly powerful her singing is. The flutter of mania hovers through the soprano's delivery of the central mad scene… yet nothing is over-egged. Still, as it should be, the night belongs to the diva."

The Guardian — Erica Jeal
"Woman of the match, though, is Lisette Oropesa. Elvira is fast becoming a signature role for her, and her performance, dazzlingly well sung and consistently dramatically involving, is the best reason for reviving this tricky, fascinating opera."

The Telegraph — Nicholas Kenyon (★★★★)
"Bellini's elaborately chiselled lines, which portray deep emotional turbulence, are so immaculately managed by Oropesa that she makes life hard for everyone else on stage… it proves that, with the right voices, the expressive world of bel canto opera can still hit home."

Evening Standard — Barry Millington (★★★★)
"She does not disappoint. Not only is her coloratura astounding — a fearless command of the stratospheric register coupled with a remarkable range of colour — but in her descent into so-called madness… she offers a persuasive and moving psychological portrait of a woman undergoing a crisis of self-esteem."

Financial Times — Richard Fairman
"It is primarily her singing that rescues this woeful new production by the Royal Opera… Oropesa is more in the classic Italianate style with a clear, limpid soprano of bel canto size, giving us singing that is expressive and effortlessly agile. In the mad scene, the heart of the opera, her artistry sparkled."

Bachtrack — Mark Pullinger
"Oropesa is in her absolute vocal prime. As the happy bride of Act 1, the coloratura of her polonaise Son vergin vezzosa sparkled with diamantine brilliance… This was bel canto singing to crown a new golden age."

And from the rest of the press:

• The Stage — "Oropesa's technical skills and sheer interpretative imagination make her movingly memorable throughout."
• London Theatre — "A superlative performance by Lisette Oropesa as Elvira, whose coloratura is diamond-like in its purity and brilliance."
• The Arts Desk — "Oropesa projects charismatic instability and full upper-reach phrases… she presses all the right buttons and the dramatic gestures feel real."
• musicOMH — "Oropesa alone is reason enough to see the production."
• BroadwayWorld — "The emotional heavy lifting has been left almost exclusively to the American soprano, and Oropesa carries it without apparent strain."
• Interlude — "Her soprano soars like a hovercraft through the famously challenging second act mad scene, her legato utterly exquisite."
• OperaWire — "She is lauded as the best lyric coloratura of her generation and on this showing, that is indisputable."
• The Observer — "The Cuban-American soprano Lisette Oropesa is the Elvira of the moment."
• Opera Now — "An immensely rewarding interpretation of an outrageously taxing role, made all the more thrilling thanks to Oropesa's conviction and theatrical instincts."
• Critics' Circle — "In the mad scene she achieves the impossible, the voice untethered by Elvira's state of mind but also full of meaning and flawless."
• Opera Online — "An outstanding performance as Elvira… a great clarity that paradoxically enables her to offer a 'dreamy' sound that conveys her state of mind."
• Ôlyrix (in French) — "Lisette Oropesa shines once again in the role of Elvira with her great technical agility, an exquisite sweetness of tone and convincing acting."
• London Unattached — "The undisputed heavyweight champion of Elviras… an Elvira for the ages."

Lisette sings Elvira at the Royal Opera House through 19 July. Full performance details, cast and dates are on the production page.