In Conversation with Lisette Oropesa Part 2: "In many ways social media is a means of getting opera singers visible!"
08. January 2024
Rubrik Interviews
©Steven Harris
Operaversum: Dear Lisette, change of topic. Can you recall an opera performance which was most memorable for you and which you will never ever forget?
Lisette Oropesa: Yes, there was a performance which in fact ended up as a disaster. It was one of the performances in the Vienna production of Lucia di Lammermoor, where unfortunately I had an allergy attack in the middle of the "Mad scene".
I do not know if you remember but in that production it had all that snow on stage and then there was this red carpet, the chairs and the chorus as well.
So during that one performance it started off all great, I was singing wonderful. But when it came to the "Mad Scene" where I was supposed to bend down on the carpet, touching it and standing up again all of a sudden something, a piece of dust or maybe one of those "Schneeflöckchen" got stuck in my throat. So I immediately started to gasp for air, followed by heavy coughing.
And all that happened right in the middle of the "Mad Scene". So while I was forcing my voice to try to keep on singing the conductor just continued without even looking up at me.
Desperately gasping for air, whilst coughing on end and trying to swallow down whatever had gotten into my throat, I was turning around to the chorus, signaling to them that I needed help.
So eventually I could get the baritone to bring me a glass of water, which I was then putting behind my back, so that I could take sips every now and then whilst the chorus was singing.
But still it did not stop me from coughing. At that point I thought I was going to die. So with half a voice I barely managed to sing the Cabaletta.
When singing the Cadenza, some of the notes would work, but others would not work at all. This experience was extremely stressful for me and felt like it lasted an eternity.
After I had finally finished the "Mad Scene" I was just running off stage, still coughing, taking a shower and trying to inhale as much steam as possible, still panicking all the while.
Interesting enough that after this performance only half of the audience had noted that something had been going completely wrong on stage with me. So for me this was really the worst, scariest and most insane experience I have ever had.
Operaversum: That sounds absolutely threatening and almost unbelievable. So that can happen when you suffer from allergies?
Lisette Oropesa: Absolutely and I have very bad allergies. It actually happened again one year later. I had a recital and the theatre had these huge boquet of flowers on stage. So while I was singing and kept walking past the flowers, all of a sudden I smelled the flowers and started coughing badly.
So eventually they had to take the flowers away whilst I had to go backstage for about 20 minutes to recuperate my voice. So, yes, these kind of allergies have happened to me more than once. And I have to pay a lot of attention to them since I never know what exactly will trigger them.
As for the "Mad Scene" in Lucia I was lucky that the allergy attack happened right towards the end and not at the very beginning of the opera.
Operaversum. ... and thank God, you managed to get through it! What a "Mad Scene" indeed!
©Brescia-Amisano
Operaversum: Lisette, in 2020 you were giving masterclasses to younger singers to make them more visible as you wrote on your website.
So how can you really make young opera singers more visible? And do you think social media can be a means to get opera singers more known by the outside world?
Lisette Oropesa: Yes, I think social media has lot of positive aspects. Of course it has a lot of negative aspects as well. But in many ways nowadays it is the only way at all to get visible.
It is the only way to advertise for a performance, for an album, for anything, because we are not visible on TV and apparently no one is listening to the radio any more. So this is how we as opera singers can reach out to a broader audience.
Moreover opera singers have an interesting sound. So for people who have never heard opera before, and are scrolling down on Tik Tok and by chance get to listen to an opera video, this can be a real positive eye opener.
And for younger singers who have been naturally growing up with social media, this is a done thing anyway to take advantage of this "branding and marketing tool", which social media is.
As for the masterclasses my main approach was to build up a community, as during the pandemic inparticular young singers had lost contracts in programmes, in conservatories and in summer festivals where they usually would have had training.
So unfortunately they were moving on from month to month with no school and no teacher to help them, withouth any work and any practise at all. And what happened was that a lot of people fell into depression.
Some of them felt real despair as they did not know if their career would ever come back to normal nor did they have a a single clue about how long the pandemic would still last.
All this was happening to all of us. And we were scared because we thought the theaters will be the last thing to reopen again.
And in many ways they were the last thing. So the masterclass was a way for me and other people to come together and be together to talk about singing, to learn about singing, to hear people´s practise, to study, to simply keep going in order not to become desperate and loose the reason to want to continue singing. It kept everybody´s inspirations at high level.
Then with time my masterclasses grew, became bigger and more people would be attending them. So we invited guest teachers, guest speakers and we started going into subjects really deeply.
It was amazing, as it soon became a community with thousands and thousands of people. And still today people tell me after performances, that those masterclasses got them through the pandemic and that as long as they existed they were looking very much forward to them.
Operaversum: So you created a wonderful platform which helped everybody to get through this really difficult time and made it worthwhile for them to continue their singing career, which leads me to my final question: In a few words, what makes opera such a one-of-a-kind-experience and is there any feature about it which you love best?
Lisette Oropesa: Well, no matter how hard they try, they will never replace us with AI! Oh, it rimes. I did not mean to create a poem. But yes, you cannot replace the world of opera with AI.
Operaversum: Absolutely I totally agree. Opera is certainly the last stronghold they could attack since it needs human beings to sing and transport emotions, right?
Lisette Oropesa: Well, maybe one day AI will create translations for libretto, which could be interesting, but AI cannot play the music, cannot conduct or sing the music and can also not put on the production.
Opera is a unique art form that is not meant to be recorded, even though we are already recording it. But then that is recording, which is lovely. But the real art form is to be experienced with the artist and the audience as in a live performance. Even Lieder, which is the same thing, are meant to be experienced one by one with the accoustics of the hall.
During the pandemic it was so difficult to be together. So everything, concerts and opera performances were shown via the Internet or broadcasted and streamed all the time. I think streaming can definitely reach people, but in the end the people who are in the auditorium are the ones experiencing the art form opera truly is.
Operaversum: That´s it. There is nothing more to add from my side. Thanks you so much Lisette for this interview and that you took your time. Wishing you a lot of sucess for your future projects to come.
Ein herzlicher Dank gilt der Dresdner Philharmonie, die das Interview mit Lisette Oropesa ermöglicht hat.
©Steven Harris
Lisette was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Cuban parents, and played the flute for 12 years and she began her studies in vocal performance at Louisiana State University.
After winning the Met Opera National Council Auditions, she entered the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and moved to New York City. She sang her first major role, Susanna in LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, at the Met at the age of 22, and has sung there in over 100 performances in many different roles since.
She has appeared in concert halls and opera stages all over the world since graduating from the young artist program in 2008, and has become one of the most celebrated singers of her generation, both for her singing and her inspiring personal story.
Lisette is a devoted runner who has completed 6 marathons and is an advocate for health and fitness.
©Steven Harris
Lisette began her career at the Metropolitan Opera, and has starred in various roles there, including Manon Lescaut in MANON, Violetta Valery in LA TRAVIATA, Nannetta in FALSTAFF, Gretel in HANSEL AND GRETEL, Gilda in RIGOLETTO, and Susanna in LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.
She has a strong relationship to Spanish theatres such as the Teatro Real and the Grand Theatre del Liceu where she has sung in LA TRAVIATA, LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR and RIGOLETTO, and RODELINDA.
She has appeared many times with the Bayerische Staatsoper as Konstanze in DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL, a role she has also sung at the Opéra National de Paris. Her most performed role is Gilda in RIGOLETTO, which she has sung at the Dutch National Opera, Teatro dell'opera di Roma, Los Angeles Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, Opéra National de Paris, and the Teatro Real. In the U.K., Lisette triumphed as Norina in DON PASQUALE at Glyndebourne, and as LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
Other roles include Ophélie in HAMLET, Cleopatra in GIULIO CESARE, Leïla in LES PÊCHEURS DE PERLES, Marie in LA FILLE DU RÉGIMENT, Amalia in I MASNADIERI, Rosina in IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA, and Adina in L'ELISIR D'AMORE.
In the U.S., Lisette has appeared at the Met, San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Philadelphia Opera, and the Washington National Opera, among others. Lisette's career also includes oratorio, recital, and concert repertoire. She has released two recital albums, titled WITHIN/WITHOUT, and AUX FILLES DU DÉSERT, and has performed recitals in New York City, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, and more.
She has a released a Mozart concert aria album called OMBRA COMPAGNA and in concert she has appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, among others. She has sung at Carnegie Hall, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, The Ravinia Festival, The Tanglewood Music Festival, The Chicago Bach Project, The Mostly Mozart Music Festival, and more. She has collaborated with many of the world's leading conductors, including Riccardo Muti, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Anthony Pappano, Daniele Gatti, Fabio Luisi, Ivor Bolton, William Christie, and many more.