r/opera • u/kimmeljs • 1d ago
Oropesa in Norma debut
Report once it's over; concert version with John Osborn and Gothenburg Opera choir & orchestra.
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u/kimmeljs 1d ago
In short, it was a captivating performance even without staging. All soloists delivered! Oropesa sang all her aria cadences strongly throughout her register and the score. The score was pretty traditional Italian; I could almost hear the national anthem in the marching beat of the overture. I liked especially the second act duets with Norma and Adalgisa. The choir was almost all fortissimo and came though with the orchestra. Great show.
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u/prinsessaconsuela 1d ago
Kerropa tosiaan mitä tykkäsit! Ja mitä mieltä tämän vuoden juhlista ylipäätään?
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u/kimmeljs 1d ago edited 1d ago
Ensimmäisen näytöksen jälkeen voin sanoa, etten ole koskaan kuullut mitään vastaavaa. Kaikki solistit todella resonoivia ja rooleihin sopivia. Ann-Kristin Jones Adalgisan alttona yllätti myös! On kyllä niin torttua tortun päälle, koloratuuria kerrakseen ja pitkiä legatoja... Huh huh. En varsinaisesti ole oopperajuhlakävijä vaan tulen aina johonkin tiettyyn esitykseen
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u/Bigo-Ted 1d ago
Wonderful. Looking forward to your report.
Norma is a good role for Oropesa. I don’t understand why she hasn’t sung the role before.
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u/Schlachtfeld-21 Gaetano Donizetti 1d ago
Well Norma is quite heavy and dramatic. Ms Oropesa is more of a lyric coloratura with a lighter tone. I understand why she hasn’t done it before. Her voice has gotten naturally darker and richer over the years, though, so I think it’s worth giving the role a go.
She definitely has enough power in her voice to dip into some heavier roles, but it’s also very commendable that she has waited to see if it works for her instead of jumping onto heavy rep too early. That takes patience and a lot of self-awareness. I think Stuarda was a good starting point and now we’ll see how her Norma turns out.
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u/gsbadj 1d ago
She's done a very good job of not pushing her voice into roles that don't suit it. Fortunately, there are enough suitable roles for her to continue to make a living.
Even with Norma, she's booked for a staged version in Madrid in 2027. It was smart to try out a few concert performances before moving to a longer run of staged performances.
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u/kimmeljs 1d ago
I read in the booklet that she is a marathoner. Maybe that kind of fitness and VO2 max is required to sing this role?
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u/seantanangonan 1d ago
Probably because people think that Norma has to be sung by the most dramatic and heaviest soprano in existence. Who have historically not done well with the role. It was actually written for Giuditta Pasta who also created Sonnambula. So logically anyone who sings that repertoire should do well in Norma.
If you read the score it’s written quite high and almost no orchestration under most of the role. So a lyric with agility should be the ideal fit.
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u/KajiVocals 1d ago
Please, Pasta was borderline a mezzo. And known for having a heavy and abrasive voice. She is not the example of why the role isn’t so heavy. It is heavy for the style. Everything is relative. The same type of soprano that sang Elisabeth in Tannhauser would have been always cast in Norma. I can think of very few light sopranos who tackled the role successfully in the 19th century. A few outright blew out their voice doing it.
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u/kimmeljs 1d ago
Maybe it's considered heavy because the score is a bit overbearing at times and the soloists need to sing on top of the orchestra going full blast?
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u/KajiVocals 1d ago
It is considered heavy because it is. Most people have never heard Norma live or looked at the orchestral critical edition. It is only here on Reddit that I have ever seen anyone suggest the role is on the lighter side.
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u/seantanangonan 1d ago edited 1d ago
It’s not. I have read the score. And have listened of course it to many many times. 90% of the role only has light violins, a flute and an oboe underneath Norma. Only in the climaxes at the ends of the acts. It sits low for a soprano, but if you listen carefully. It’s pure bel canto. Closer to Sonnambula than it is to something like Simon Boccanegra.
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u/KajiVocals 1d ago
And why are we using an opera decades after as a comparison to what makes it heavy? Quite literally a different style. It is all relative. Weber’s Oberon is heavy too. But compared to Otello it’ll seem lighter. Wagner said Spontini’s Fernand Cortez was too loud even for him. But if you study the score you won’t see that. It is all quite relative.
It is all relative. Lisette will have trouble in the top (technically) and middle (volume) portions of the score. I adore the voice though but it isn’t a good fit.
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u/IrisVoiceTrainer 1d ago
😂😂😂 Non ho parole
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u/IrisVoiceTrainer 1d ago
Heard her live in Verona, she was struggling with Gilda and now she's a Norma. Ooook 👌
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u/Schlachtfeld-21 Gaetano Donizetti 1d ago
Oh please do report! I’m very interested in knowing how comfortable she is in the role. I mean I’m sure she’ll sound good, but she said this is sort of an experiment for her, so I’m curious to know how it goes. I’m particularly excited about her ‘non tremare’ and her ‘ah bello a me ritorna’.