In conversation with Valeria Sepe: The true magic of opera is immortality!
03. Dezember 2024
Rubrik Interviews
©Lorenzo Montanelli
Opera seems to be in her genes, when Italian soprano Valeria Sepe talks about her life on stage, the career path she took, which was a challenging, yet exciting artistic journey.
On her recent concert tour, which celebrated the centenary of Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, Valeria Sepe sang alongside world famous tenor Jonas Kaufmann and enchanted audiences throughout Europe with her lush, yet elegant voice, so rich in colours and emotional depth.
Grateful for experiencing and amplifyling her roles and repertoire the ambitious soprano knows no limit to any of her future aspirations. Moreover when it comes to describing the magic of opera, Valeria Sepe only needs one word to sum up her fascination for this utmost beautiful artform, which to her implies immortality!
Operaversum: Dear Valeria, when did you first discover that you wanted to persue a career in opera singing and was it ever an easy path to follow?
Valeria Sepe: Music has always been a part of my life, and from a young age, thanks to my parents, I was introduced to classical music and opera.
An innate and natural musicality, along with a talent for various forms of art, allowed me to embark on a very challenging yet exciting and enriching artistic journey. I didn’t choose a career in opera; it was the theater that chose me!
Operaversum: Listening to your performance at the “Viva Puccini” concert in Bremen alongside Jonas Kaufmann was an absolute revelation to me, especially when you interpreted “O mio babino caro” and Manon in the final duet. Talking about the latter, how do you vocally tackle the demanding role of a woman who displays so many charateristic and emotional facets?
Valeria Sepe: Thank you! All Puccini’s women are fascinating and extremely complex, both vocally and interpretatively. I must admit I was thrilled to have the chance to sing Lauretta’s aria, a role I haven’t debuted yet but truly enjoy. The aria is a plea of great expressive and emotional intensity!
For any role, I believe the essential condition for interpreting it is to respect the composer’s intentions, both musically and emotionally. Only through dedicated study can a character truly come to life.
Manon demands total immersion. Only in this way can one grasp the many facets that define her, allowing the voice to adapt to these nuances and bring the character’s originality and authenticity to the audience.
©Lorenzo Montanelli
Operaversum: Fascinatingly, you have a voice that speaks through emotions and reflects on emotional temperatures so well, not only
bringing across a technical beautiful voice, but making it authentic and true to the composers work and intention: How challenging is it in general
to bring technical and emotional attributes perfectly balanced so seemlessly together?
Valeria Sepe: First of all, thank you for your kind words, which always bring me great joy, as it is essential for me to convey emotions to the audience through my art. I believe it is quite challenging and difficult to perfectly and naturally balance technical and emotional aspects.
This requires a great deal of work, as there is always the risk that emotions might influence or even compromise the vocal performance if one lacks control over their instrument.
A careful selection of details can help bridge technique and expression, such as the use of colors, dynamics, and even attention to highlighting certain words.
Operaversum: Having experienced this wonderful “Viva Puccini” Tour yourself, how do you feel after the many venues alongside Jonas Kaufmann and what is your personal resumée of the concert tour?
Valeria Sepe: First of all, I feel honored and grateful to have shared this extraordinary experience with a wonderful artist, tenor Jonas Kaufmann.
For me, it was a crescendo of emotions and gratifications made possible by the support of the many artistic elements that accompanied us throughout the various concerts, including the irreplaceable enthusiasm of an always welcoming and warm audience, to whom I will always be grateful.
Each stop on the tour also allowed me to visit beautiful cities, learn about their history, and admire their wonders. This concert experience has undoubtedly enriched me both artistically and personally.
Operaversum: And does it make a big difference to perform opera scenes in a concert version or is that irrelevant as long as the chemistry between you and your stage partner works well.
Valeria Sepe: Performing opera scenes in a concert version is certainly not insignificant. In fact, performing the entire opera allows you to follow the character’s development from beginning to end and to be on stage supported by direction, costumes, and makeup.
During concerts, however, the characters to interpret are many and diverse, as are the contexts in which they unfold. For this reason, I believe it is more challenging to perform opera scenes in a concert setting. You need to be very versatile and possess a heightened sensitivity.
We are also actors, not just singers, and that’s why the chemistry created with the stage partner is of fundamental importance. It plays a decisive role in the success of the concert.
©Lorenzo Montanelli
Operaversum: What are your future aspirations in terms of new roles, new repertoire or even new houses. Will we have the chance to listen to you more frequently in the German speaking countries?
Valeria Sepe: I place no limits on my future aspirations. I believe it is important to experiment in order to understand which roles and repertoire are most suitable, especially to interpret the composer’s intentions in the most respectful way possible. I hope that many opportunities will soon arise for me to sing in the wonderful German-speaking countries.
Operaversum: Opera in Italy to me is a cultural event that comes natural, in Germany it often seems forced and foreign to most people and needs a whole lot of educational background to make it´s approach come easy: What can we learn from the way opera is done, lived and perceived in Italy. What can we possibly adapt to cut the barrier?
Valeria Sepe: Not living in Germany makes it difficult for me to fully understand how opera is perceived in this country, but thanks to my recent experience, I was able to sense a great passion for Italian opera.
In Italy, opera is probably experienced in a more natural way, and this is due to our cultural and humanistic traditions, as well as what I would call our "band-inspired" musical heritage, which has led to a broader dissemination.
I hope that in the future there will be a more engaging approach to opera for younger generations, who are increasingly „socially distracted” by ever more virtual realities. Many projects should be created to bring young people closer to this wonderful art!
Operaversum: Dear Valeria, can you tell me about your most unforgettable stage experience and what made it so special for you?
Valeria Sepe: Every experience I’ve had on the stages of various theaters has been meaningful and unforgettable for me. Certainly, my debut as Cio-Cio-San at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, with the direction of Ozpetek and the conducting of Dan Ettinger, remains the most intense and emotional experience for various reasons.
Among these, certainly, is the awareness of being able to interpret such an emblematic role, both vocally and interpretively.
©Marco Borelli
Operaversum: In a few words: What makes the magic of opera in your opinion if you had to condense your message down to a short, but
powerful elevator pitch?
Valeria Sepe: The magic of opera definitely creates the idea of „immortality”.
Years and centuries pass, but despite the passage of time, those characters, with their stories, live on through the performers and will always have the power to reach the heart of the audience in a direct and moving way. This is the true magic of opera: immortality.
Operaversum: I do agree. The magic of opera is among other decisive attributes immortality indeed! Thank you very much for your time and the inspiring insights given on your artistic life. Wishing you all the best, Valeria, and toi, toi, toi for any of your upcoming performances.
Born in Napoli, Valeria Sepe is one of the most talented Italian sopranos of her generation, she won the prize “Oscar della lirica 2016 as Soprano of New Generetion”. She graduated at the Conservatory “G. F. Ghedini” in Cuneo, and refined her skills under the technical guidance of Raina Kabaivanska.
The soprano launched her career from Italy, appearing in leading roles at the opera houses of Florence, Palermo, Parma, Verona, Naples and Rome subsequently debuting in many of the world’s most famous opera companies, and she has collaborated with renowned stage and musical directors of international prestige: Zubin Mehta, Michele Mariotti, Daniel Oren, Renato Palumbo, Franco Zeffirelli, Ferzan Ozpetek, Pier Francesco Maestrini, Davide Livermore and David McVicar.
Numerous productions in which she achieved great personal success for her interpretations: Liù in the new production of Puccini's Turandot at the inauguration of the 2019 season of the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Mimì in Puccini's La Bohème at the Opera Australia in Sydney, Nedda in Pagliacci by Leoncavallo at the Verona Arena, Micaela in Bizet's Carmen at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Mimì at the Teatro Regio in Parma, Leonora in Verdi's Trovatore at the Bunka Kaikan Theater in Tokyo, Liù and Desdemona at the Hong Kong Opera, Nedda at Rome Opera House, Mimì at the Bellini Theater in Catania.
Among his recent engagements we mention: Margherita and Elena in a new production of Mefistofelele of Boito conducted by Michele Mariotti at Opera of Rome; Liù under the direction of the director emeritus Zubin Mehta and in the historic staging signed by Zhang Yimou at Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; Madama Butterfly at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples under direction of Dan Ettinger and staging by Ferzan Ozpetek; Nedda at the Arena of Verona, at the Regio in Turin, at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, at the Teatro Regio in Parma and at the Verdi di Trieste; Mimì at Opera Australia in Sydney and at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo; Tosca in the show by the artist Marina Abramovic 7 Death of Maria Callas.
Among future commitments: Adriana Lecouvreur at the Liceu in Barcelona, Madama Butterfly at the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago, concert tour with the tenor Jonas Kaufmann.
Further information on the artist´s schedules on:
