Reviews

Lugar y fecha: Gran Teatre del Liceu (15/XII/2020) Seductora y carismática, así fue la Violetta Valéry de la estadounidense Lisette Oropesa, éxito personal y ovación en el Liceu. Recuperadas las funciones de La Traviata tras ampliar el tope de 500 espectadores a 1.000, faltaba disfrutar de la tercera de las cuatro Violetta en discordia, vistas ya Kristina Mkhitaryan y Pretty Yende, y a falta de Ermonela Jaho en la última función. Lisette, la más ligera, sorprendió, pues más allá de un primer acto brillante, donde desplegó su instrumento a piacere, Mi bemol al nal del “Sempre libera!” , agudos fáciles, luminosos y timbrados, creció con el desarrollo de la partitura. En su dúo con Germont padre coloreó, buscó expresión y matices, siempre sul ato, con un fraseo detallado, articulando cada frase con una escuela belcantista de primera. En su aria nal “Addio del passato” , la más aplaudida, controló el vibrato, aportó drama y acabó con un pianissimo volátil inolvidable. Brava la Oropesa!

—  Jordi Maddaleno  •  La Vanguardia

Lisette Oropesa shone both in voice and action as Konstanze in her Staatsoper debut. Demonstrating ownership of the role from the start, she moved through the contrasting lyric and coloratura sections of “Ach ich liebte” with aplomb, soaring to the repeated top Ds with ease.

—  George Jahn  •  Bachtrack

Fulminant hingegen die Dramatik der Martern-Arie, wobei der Akzent von Lisette Oropesa ausging. Die amerikanische Sopranistin überzeugte als Konstanze, beherrschte wahnwitzige Koloraturen sowie feine Zwischentöne und zelebrierte darstellerische Vielseitigkeit. 

—  Michael Wruss  •  OÖNachrichten

Das sorgt für große Momente, wenn Lisette Oropesa als Konstanze ihr heftig bejubeltes Staatsoperndebüt gibt: ein wunderbar in – an Erika Köth erinnerndem – Feinvibrato leuchtender Sopran. Eine souverän alle Klippen meisternde „geläufige Gurgel“, die auch noch voller Ausdruck zu singen versteht.

—  Stefan Musil  •  Tiroler Tageszeitung

der Besetzung brilliert Lisette Oropesa: ein wunderbar geschmeidiger, warm leuchtender Sorpan mit hoher Koloraturensicherheit. Betörend schön ihre Arien „Traurigkeit ward mir zum Lose“und die „Marternarie“.

—  Karlheinz Roschitz  •  Kronen Zeitung

Den Abend trägt die tragisch Leidende, Konstanze. Lisette Oropesa singt zum ersten Mal in der Staatsoper und nimmt das Haus im Sturm. Ihr Sopran verströmt herzwärmende Innigkeit und meistert auch die extremen Klippen der Rolle mühelos. Tritt sie auf, findet das Stück zu jener Schlichtheit zurück, die seinen Zauber ausmacht. „Sing, Konstanze, sing!“, fleht ihre Doppelgängerin in der Not. Musik als Heilmittel.

—  Zeitung  •  Kleine Zeitung Steiermark

Lisette Oropesa ist eine wahre Entdeckung. Ihre Konstanze ist ein Ereignis. Der amerikanischen Sopranistin fehlt nichts: ihr Sopran erstrahlt in den hohen Tönen, die sie mühelos erreicht, besticht durch Sinnlichkeit und Ausdruck. Fulminant ihre "Martern"-Arie. 

—  Susanne Zobl  •  News.AT

Lisette Oropesa wieder einmal in Regionen besonderer Unmittelbarkeit auf. Trotz eines leicht flatternden Wesenszugs ihrer Stimme gelingen der Hausdebütantin (als Konstanze) Momente immenser vokaler Präsenz.

—  Ljubiša Tošić  •  Der Standard

Und erst recht die Konstanze der Lisette Oropesa, die man bisher nur aus den Übertragungen der Met kannte und die ein strahlendes Debüt ablieferte, eine wunderbare, dunkel timbrierte Stimme mit einer Koloratur-Attacke, die sprachlos machte.

—  Volksblatt  •  Volksblatt

Die beste Leistung bot ohne Zweifel Lisette Oropesa als Konstanze. Sie sang mit großer Dynamik, gutem Ausdruck und schön geführter Stimme.

—  Heinrich Schramm-Schiessl  •  Online Merker

Strahlender Star des Abends: die US-Sopranistin Lisette Oropesa, die bei ihrem Staatsoperndebüt als Konstanze ausnahmslos alle im Publikum überzeugte.

—  heid  •  ORF.AT

mit dem strahlenden Debüt von Lisette Oropesa als Konstanze ist Hans Neuenfels' Deutung von Mozarts "Entführung aus dem Serail" am Montag an die Wiener Staatsoper gekommen.

—  APA  •  Salzburger Nachrichten

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozarts Singspiel „Die Entführung aus dem Serail“in der legendären Regie von Hans Neuenfels mit einer grandiosen Lisette Oropesa „Entführung“

Die amerikanische Sopranistin ist eine Konstanze von Weltformat, verfügt über alle nötigen Koloraturen, Lyrismen und Registerübergänge und gestaltet nicht nur die berühmte „Martern-Arie“ mit einer unglaublichen stimmlichen Intensität. 

—  Peter Jarolin  •  Kurier

Und Konstanze der Stern, der alles überglänzte. Wer Lisette Oropesa schon an der Met (im Kino) kennen gelernt hat, als so nachdrückliche Manon von Massenet, wie man sie von einer damals noch weitgehend Unbekannten nie erwartet hat, der war nicht überrascht – und doch: eine Konstanze, die mit dunkel leuchtendem Sopran und attackierender, darstellender Koloratur so leidenschaftlich gesungen und gestaltet wird, erlebt man nicht alle Tage.

—  Renate Wagner  •  Online Merker

Oropesa a conçu Violetta Valéry précisément sur la base solide de la tradition belcantiste, en déployant un chant d'une rare pureté, d'une perfection vertigineuse, d'un équilibre admirable. Elle a un formidable contrôle de la respiration, ce qui lui permet au deuxième acte une exquise énonciation de Dite alla giovine, un moment de rare concentration, dans lequel elle rend le théâtre muet devant la qualité de l’expression, comme absorbée, rêveuse, obtenue grâce à la généreuse amplitude de la tenue de souffle. Et comme on pouvait s'y attendre de la part d'une chanteuse qui maîtrise si bien les ressources de son instrument, la fin du premier acte est admirable pour la limpidité et la précision de la colorature.

—  Antoine Lernez  •  Wanderer

But if this particular performance is memorable, it is because of the magnificent performance by Lisette Oropesa. The memories of her Lucia from last summer still alive in this very place, the American soprano (and now Spanish nationalized) offers a dramatically overwhelming and vocally very own portrait of the protagonist. If we look at the cliché of Violeta's three voices - light, lyrical and dramatic - Oropesa is situated in the initial part of the triad, and there he remained throughout the performance. She solved with ease and comfort the agility of the first act while showing us a timbre that, without being very rich in harmonics, seduced us by brightness and homogeneity. A beautiful legato song and a very careful diction - every word was understood, each inflection in each syllable - demonstrated during the second act the technical quality of this artist. And in the final part, the lightness of her instrument managed to outline a delicate Violet, fragile to the point of breaking at any moment. The masterful mastery of pianissimo and dynamics presided over the final part, shattering the myth that a more bodied voice is essential for the outcome, and leaving the unforgettable memory of an “Or tutto finì” issued as an exquisite and eternal floating row. .

—  Juan José Freijo  •  Bachtrack

Second and third acts require a soprano of more robustness and dramatic substrate, but the Oropesa shows off her weapons, namely, remarkable vocalist skills and sincere expression, without artifice, or any room for excess. An example of this was the precise attack in pianissimo and link with the phrase "Dite alla giovane" in the great Duet with Germont Sr. [climax of the work] in which an impeccable spianato sostenuto song [flat song with a slow rhythm, without ornamentation and based on long values], firm and full of morbidity compensated for the lack of timbral width to fill the Verdi phrase. Likewise, the "Amami Alfredo" achieved an impact in the room, first because it was vocally and technically irreproachably reproduced and the expression, in the absence of greater doses of punch and charisma, treasured frankness and truthfulness. It is also fair

The sensitive and musical singing of Oropesa and his control of the emission and the column of air were imposed on the personality and dramatic force (appreciable deficiencies in that speech of the reading of the letter "You have the promessa") and on a timbre far from be patrician in the aria "Addio del passato" and also in "Prendi quest'è l'immagine" of the third act. Indeed, pure singing and outstanding vocal skills, especially in Italian opera, are genuine elements of pathos and expression.

—  Raúl Chamorro Mena  •  Codalario

I well remember the impact that the soprano Lisette Oropesa caused exactly two years ago with her Lucia di Lammermoor at the Teatro Real, together with the tenor Javier Camarena. For her naturalness, for her magnetism, for her careful technique, for the closeness of her singing ... And all this has once again marked her return to Madrid, embodying a very close Violetta, with whom it is inevitable to empathize. There is a rare mix of control and emotion in Oropesa's song. Naturalness and technique converge in her doing, in a very chosen, almost select way. Oropesa is a singer of palpalbe intelligence, aware of her means, who manages and manages in such a way that they seem to redouble her potential. Its material, with a pleasant natural vibrato and a slightly dark color,with a barely metallic timbre - it sometimes reminds me of Gheorghiu in its beginnings - it manages to flow with distinguished naturalness. His first act was a paragon of virtues, crowning with an E flat that was nothing but the icing on an exhibition of technical resources, despite a slight fatigue in the last section of 'Semper Libera'.

Already in the second act, Oropesa once again exhibited a prodigious ability to manage his means, singing in a low voice the 'Dite alla giovine', putting the hair on end and creating an atmosphere of outstanding theatricality, as had already happened in the first act with a masterful and chilling 'Ah, maybe him'. Her composure and dignity, in dialogue with Germont; her despair later when she met Alfredo again; and finally his heartbreak when he faced death in the third act. All this reflected Oropesa's voice with amazing ease and with palpable truth. There were even moments in which his voice seemed to double its flow, as in that thrown 'Amami Alfredo quant'io t'amo', with the pit at full throttle. As a final,crowning the page with a sharp A that he regulated at will, in 'Or tutto finì!'. In short, and in short, an anthology Violetta.

—  Alejandro Martínez  •  Platea Magazine

Now, in the final stretch, Lisette Oropesa arrives. You have to go see it, and especially to listen to it. Even if it is only for the few seconds in which her Amami Alfredo transports us to the great ones that we all have engraved in our brain, which is the best hard drive that can exist.

It is true that we are in need of beautiful things. And it is no less true that the Oropesa gives us the ear. When we still remember his Lucia from two years ago (and his Gilda del Rigoletto from 2015), now comes his Violetta, which enshrines her in the Real: from chaste diva, chaste goddess, to absolute diva. But with the closeness that the divas of the 21st century require. Her elegance on stage, in addition, adds many points.

El Real, we insist, is at fifty percent capacity for health reasons. Those who were on July 18 filled all the gaps with applause; a welcome that makes history. The shadow of the encore flew over the room after his sublime Addio del passato of the final act. Just as the illusion that he would come out to be applauded behind the curtain that closed the first one also flew overhead. As before, as could be done when the voice prevailed.

—  Nacho Fresno  •  Shangay

Lisette Oropesa, taking on the role at the Metropolitan Opera for the first time (according to her official website she had taken it on just 11 times prior to this run), is one of the few artists that can manage to pull off the role with not only the dramatic temperament, but also the vocal consistency.

—  David Salazar  •  Opera Wire

She gave a stellar performance that showed a firm grip on all the facets of the role--the coloratura, the drama, the pathos, the glamour.

She was the party girl of Act I, the delirious lover and compassionate figure of Act II, and the dying woman of Act III, each perfectly placed, each cannily acted. Whether she was singing the joyous "Sempre libera" at the opera's start or the woeful "Addio del passato" at the end of Act III, she was in full command of all that was demanded of her. She had good backup from the Met Orchestra, under Bertrand de Billy, with the usual stellar work of the Met Chorus, under Donald Palumbo.

—  Richard Sasanow  •  Broadway World

In Act I, when Violetta, a charming courtesan, is throwing a lavish party, a soprano must summon flights of coloratura brilliance and coquettish sparkle. Ms. Oropesa breezily dispatched runs and embellishments as she mingled with her guests and met Alfredo, the smitten young man from a bourgeois family who has been pining for her from afar.

Yet you could detect a trace of forced vivacity in Ms. Oropesa’s interpretation, an intentional touch of tremulous fervor in her sound, even as she let bright-voiced, ebullient phrases soar. Here was a young woman determined to prove that she was undaunted and would remain, as she later sings, “sempre libera”: always free.

—  Anthony Tommasini  •  New York Times

There’s a melancholy feeling that very occasionally accompanies the greatest performances. Tangled up in the thrill of witnessing a historic interpretation of an iconic work comes the sad realization that you may never encounter its equal.

The Metropolitan Opera has seen a number of superb sopranos appear as Violetta Valéry in the past decade: Diana Damrau, Natalie Dessay, Sonya Yoncheva, and Angelina Gheorghiu are just a handful of the most recent leading artists to make a mark in La Traviata’s touchstone role.

The sensational performance that Lisette Oropesa gave on Wednesday night in her role debut at the Met deserves to be counted in the very first rank.

Oropesa brings a voice ideally suited to the role: direct and lively, bright yet round, so focused you can almost see it as it pierces through the air of the auditorium and slams into the back wall. Yet even with its power and laser clarity, her soprano never feels aggressive, as she wields her instrument with musical sensitivity and classic elegance.

—  Eric C. Simpson  •  New York Classical Review

The Star of the Show
American lirico-leggera soprano Lisette Oropesa took on the role of Rosina. She is well-loved by the Parisian audience, as she has stepped into the role of Marguerite di Valois in “les Hugenots” on very short notice last season and then stepped in as well into “L’Elisir d’amore,” combining rehearsals for the Donizetti work while performing the Meyerbeer opera at the Bastille.

All the admiration she received on this particular night was well-deserved. Her timbre is dark, round, and completely even throughout her register. She tops off this combination with amazing, ringing high notes.

She surprisingly sang the famed aria “Una voce poco Fa” in the mezzo-soprano key ( the aria is published in two different keys, with the soprano version one semi-tone higher) delivering sonorous low B naturals and C sharps. Her coloratura technique is depurated and immaculate, as well as her staccato notes and all the high interpolated high notes; it must be said that she was very cautious with variations, maintaining most of the original written lines.

Her duet with Figaro was lively and cunning, again proving her amazing control of the middle voice. Her voice was quite present during the final concertante; choosing this time to sing Berta’s lines which are written for a soprano with two chromatic ascensions to high C; here her voice shined clearly over the rest of the cast, chorus, and orchestra.

She took on her second act aria “Contra un cor” in the soprano key which is one and a half semi tones higher than the mezzo key. Her voice was constantly tasked with high Cs, which she pulled off beauifully. The rest of the aria was a masterful display of vocal fireworks well-rewarded by the audience.

She kept her polished coloratura technique and sweet timbre for the trio with Figaro and Almaviva, and for the final scene, always adding subtle variation in order to preserve the integrity of the original melody.

Oropesa was the true success of the evening, and she received a well-deserved long ovation at the curtain call.

—  Mauricio Villa  •  Opera Wire

Cavalcades à tous les étages
Installée dans un immeuble sévillan joliment décati, dont on nous révèle alternativement la façade et les intérieurs, l’efficace mise en scène de Damiano Michieletto fait cavalcader les chanteurs entre la rue et les étages. Non seulement cela ne semble pas coûter le moindre effort à Lisette Oropesa, 36 ans, marathonienne de choc à la ville comme à la scène, mais la soprano américaine, actrice très expressive autant que fine chanteuse, semble s’amuser énormément à camper Rosina en adolescente frondeuse, amoureuse et délurée.

C’est aussi à l’opéra Bastille qu’on l’avait découverte, à l’automne 2018. Éblouissante Marguerite de Navarre dans Les Huguenots de Meyerbeer — elle y remplaçait, en catastrophe et pour le meilleur, la très attendue Diana Damrau —, Lisette Oropesa y fut ensuite une délicieuse Adina dans L’Elixir d’amour de Donizetti. Son soprano radieux, vif et agile fait merveille dans le rôle moins dramatique, mais tout aussi exigeant, de la juvénile Rosina. En attendant qu’elle revienne (comme on l’espère) à l’Opéra de Paris, les Provençaux la retrouveront le 18 avril au Grand Théâtre de Provence (Aix-en-Provence), en récital avec le ténor Juan Diego Florez, et les Franciliens l’entendront les 10 et 11 juin à la Philharmonie de Paris, dans les Carmina Burana de Carl Orff.

—  Sophie Bourdais  •  Télérama

Lisette Oropesa  finally returns and for the second time to Rosina, 17 years after her debut in the role (she posted a charming souvenir photograph of youth on social networks). The character here is even younger: a rebellious and sulky post-adolescent girl in Gothic attire. The American soprano embodies it with the plausibility of a teenage movie  and does not forget to channel this sparkling and luminous game in the voice. With its long breath, it passes in one sentence from a colored high to a deep bass, then goes up in agile and sensual vocalizations from the low guttural to the high, moiré or shimmering, explosive or intensely contained .

—  Charles Arden  •  Olyrix

 Appréciée du public parisien depuis sa Marguerite de Valois dans Les Huguenots à l’automne 2018, Lisette Oropesa compose une Rosine en tout point captivante. La jeune soprano ne manque ni de piquant ni de charme. La voix est brillante, l’aigu aisé, les vocalises sont parfaitement exécutées et la ligne de chant ornementée avec subtilité. Actrice accomplie, elle évolue comme un poisson dans l’eau dans l’univers imaginé par Michieletto. 

—  Christian Peter  •  Forum Opéra