On September 28, 2006 soprano Lisette Oropesa made her Met debut as a Cretan Woman in Mozart's IDOMENEO. It isn't a big role but it's big enough to make an impression, and Lisette did. Seeing her again later in the run, I felt her voice had an intrinsic appeal; I wanted to know more about her so I visited her website, a link to which appears in the right-hand column of this page.
There I learned that she was a winner of the 2005 Met Auditions and was in her second year with the Met's Lindemann Young Artists program. Using the 'contact' at her website, I sent her a note. We began writing back and forth, and then I asked her if I could interview her for my blog. She agreed.
So, here is the first Oberon's Grove interview:
Q: Did you make a conscious decision to pursue a singing career or did it just sort of happen?
A: It did just sort of happen. I've always been able to sing , because it sort of runs in my family. My mom was an opera singer who ended up becoming a teacher to support her family. Although I loved listening to opera and could 'imitate' it, I spent my entire youth training to play the flute. When I was preparing to audition for Louisiana State University as a flautist, my mom told me I should audition for the vocal department as well because she thought I really had some potential. So I auditioned for both, and the voice people were really excited about me from the beginning. I didn't really get it, but I went ahead with an illegal double major just to see what would happen. As the first year progressed, I realized that singing was really special because it allowed me to combine languages (one of my first passions) with acting and with music. Flute always fulfilled me, but not on so many levels. By the end of freshman year, I had won first place in a bunch of small competitions and I realized my original plans were going to have to change. My counselor told me that I couldn't continue majoring in both voice and flute because technically it wasn't allowed. So I had to choose. The day I dropped flute lessons and band from my schedule was one of the hardest days of my life. But the more sadness I had inside, the more I realized that I could use my feelings to express in singing. And it began. I've always been a firm believer in destiny.
Q: You studied voice at LSU with Robert Grayson, a wonderful tenor whose performances at NYC Opera in the 1980s I greatly enjoyed. Tell us about working with him and the development of your voice.
A: The man is a genius. He knew instantly what to do with me and how to approach training a young voice. I came into college having a good natural foundation because my mom had been a singer. But I didn't have much else. Mr. Grayson tweaked my technique carefully over four years, and now I can say that I have a very solid understanding of my voice, its needs and limits, because he helped me to better understand it. Being a professional singer himself, he is solid proof that talent AND technique are absolutely necessary for a long life of healthy singing. You really cannot have just one and not the other. He's in his mid-fifties now and still sounds like he's 35. He never allowed me to push, or to sing anything that was too heavy for me, and this has allowed me to develop good habits while still in the earliest stages of my vocal growth. Working with him was invaluable. He said to me one day when I was a sophomore: "My plan for you is that you'll finish your degree and go into the Met program." Isn't that unbelievable? I'll never forget it. Mr. Grayson has been one of the most supportive people in my life, always staying positive and making the best out of things.
Q: You appeared in several college-level productions at Louisiana State University. And in 2005 you entered the Metropolitan Opera Auditions. At 21, you were one of the youngest contestants. How did you make the decision to enter, and did you feel you were ready?
A: Getting experience onstage at LSU was certainly very helpful. Being an undergrad working with grad and doctoral students on the stage at LSU, I got to learn a lot from them early on. I started school early in general, actually, which is why I was much younger than most of the people at the degree level. It was my senior year in college and I was finally old enough to do the Competition! Oh, I had wanted to for months! I just thought it would be my first try, and I'll do the best that I could, and then learn from it and try again the next year. I certainly didn't think I'd make it to the NYC semifinals, or win the whole thing! Although, Mr. Grayson kept on saying...
Q: Tell us about the various rounds of the Competition. Comparing yourself to other entrants, did you feel confident as you progressed? Did you hear singers you thought would go on but who didn't make it? From the judges at the various levels, did you receive any particularly valuable advice?
A: The districts are the first round, comprising of singers from in and around south Louisiana. Then the finalists go on to the regionals, which consist of the Gulf coast and Puerto Rico. That was the real turning point for me because only the first place winner of the regionals gets to go to the semi-finals in NYC. I was pretty confident that I would at least progress to the regionals, but I thought for sure it would end there. There were lots of good singers, and I listened to as many as I could. There was this one tenor, actually, who got second place, and it was disappointing because he was 29 or 30 so he wouldn't have another chance to do the Competition. He sang really well, too. But I hear he has gone on to do some really great things. Advice? We got so much of it...haha! Overall, nobody was telling me to sing Brunnhilde or anything. I'd say the most valuable advice came from Nico Castel at the districts, which was that I already had a lot going for me and to trust my instincts and not let ANYBODY mess with my voice!
{Oberon, thinking to self: "Ah, dear Nico Castel...what a jewel of a gentleman!"}
Q: So, you reached New York City and the finals. How did it feel to sing on the Met stage for the first time?
A: Surreal! The final round, with the Met orchestra, is like a rock concert. I tried not to think, "This is the Met stage...HELLO!" too much because I wanted to focus on singing and characterizing well. But...Wow! It was a thrill for me. It felt like jumping into a pool of cool water on a hot day. At first the water is shocking but after a couple of minutes it warms you up, and and you warm up to it, and you can float. It was a blur but at the same time I remember every second of it. What I loved most was the audience laughing during 'Una voce poco fa'. (Oberon's Note: This winning performance can be heard at Lisette's website, and a sparkling rendition it is!)
Q: Now tell us about the aftermath of winning and how you came to be in the Lindemann Young Artists Program.
A: I got back to Louisiana after the whole thing was over, and the next day I got an e-mail from the Lindermann people asking me to come back to NYC to audition for James Levine. That was pretty much the best thing I could ever have wanted to happen to me...even more than winning the Competition because it meant I could go back to NYC and live there and work there! If I got in, of course...
So I came back and auditioned. I didn't get to technically meet James Levine yet, although he was in the room listening to me. After I sang, I was scheduled to coach with John Fisher, who was director of music administration at the time. He worked with me for ten minutes and, on the spot, offered me a place in the Program! To this day I cannot believe how all this stuff happened so fast. I mean, my life completely changed in the course of three days! See why I believe in destiny? The timing could not have been more perfect. I graduated, and made LSU proud, and then I got married and moved up here to New York, all during that summer.
Q: Now you're in your second year in the Program. Who are some of the people you have worked with that were of special benefit.
A: Well, starting with the obvious there is James Levine. I swear every time that man works with us it's like we're receiving a message from another time...the time of the piece's composition. He is absolutely the most incredible musician walking the Earth right now. Then there's Ken Noda, who works as his musical assistant and our head coach. Love, love, love Ken Noda! He is a brilliant pianist and an excellent coach. When we work together, his amazing energy and excitement for the music make me want to be the best singer in the world for him. There are also people we get to work with a few weeks out of the year, such as Stephen Wadsworth and Renata Scotto. They are jewels and I wish we got to work with them more often. Stephen is a wonderful director who helps us to use our own personal experiences to add to our portrayal of character. Scotto is a living legend, of course, and she works with us on repertoire, to make it perfect. Dona Vaughn is our wonderful resident acting coach, who uses a lot of creative ways to help us learn to become better stage performers. There are so many more, and if I named them all I'd have to have six hours. Overall, we get so much help from the greatest performers and teachers in the world right now, and it's like being at a buffet in Heaven.
Q: You made your Met debut in September 2006 in Mozart's IDOMENEO. Not a large role, but large enough to make an impression. Which you did! Were you nervous? How did you feel afterwards? Did you get feedback from the Met staff about your performance?
A: I'm certainly glad I made an impression...and I was definitely nervous! It's always scary when you have to step up and be the performer you've been training all this time to be. Afterwards I felt so energized and grateful that something this exciting could happen to me. My entire family was here, and we attended the cast party afterwards on the Grand Tier where they got to meet Peter Gelb and James Levine. This was a dream for them, too; remember my mom was/is also a great singer. All of the great gifts that I am receiving might have been meant for her...and I wonder about that sometimes. But when I see her radiant eyes and smile I realize she is more proud of me than anybody else in the world. Her happiness is mine, and my happiness is hers. Feedback? Yes, there is always feedback and I love that. Justina Lee, who was the staff coach for IDOMENEO this year and who is also in the Program, always comes backstage to let us know how it went. Her eyes and ears are very sharp, and it's good to know that even a part as small as mine is watched carefully, and it's important too.
Q: You will appear in SUOR ANGELICA later in the season and you will also be involved in recital work linked to the Young Artists Program. Can you tell us about preparing a recital program and how you are able to decide among the hundreds of selections that would obviously show off your voice?
A: One of the things I gained in college was a great love of sing literature. And you are right: there's so much of it out there. Being opera singers, unfortunately, we don't get to do it a lot unless we choose to. So this is a wonderful opportunity to learn music I've always wanted to learn, and to explore other composers, poetry, and languages. I always start with a style or composer that has been 'calling' me. I adore singing in French, so I think about the great French melodies that are out there. Then I love German lied, so there;s more than enough to choose form there. This year I felt it would be a good idea to do something in Spanish, since it is my first language. My family is from Cuba and Spain. Ken Noda has guided me in the direction of what composers maybe to think about, and from there I picked my songs.
Q: And can you give us the dates & venues for the recitals?
A: Sure. The first recital is at the Goethe Institute, 83rd Street at 5th Avenue on February 28, 2007. And the second is March 6, 2007 at the Bruno Walter Auditorium in the Performing Arts Library here at Lincoln Center.
Q: Tell us about some roles you'd like to sing in the coming seasons.
A: I hope to sing Gilda and Lucia again and again; I love those girls. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll get to sing Amina in SONNAMBULA somewhere. That's one of my favorite roles in the world. Then, if I can get my voice around it: Lakme. I also hope to sing Sophie in ROSENKAVALIER sometime...that's such a gorgeous opera, isn't it? I would say a goal for me is to sing most of the Bellini heroines.
Q: Do you feel inclined to pursue a career in Europe?
A: Oh yes. The opera houses there are smaller, so that's always good for a young singer, or for a lighter voice like mine. Plus, Europeans adore opera and music. It's like going to the movies to them. And who can forget, it's the most gorgeous continent in the world. So by all means, I'd love to sing there.
Q: What do you like most about your voice? Least?
A: I'd say I like the fact that it's open to change. Sometimes it just doesn't want to do things, but if I coax it the right way, it will open up for me or figure out another a of approaching something. What I like least about it is that it's deceptive. Because of its color and size, it gets categorized quickly into a place it doesn't necessarily belong. After people get to know my voice, they realize there is more to it. But at first, it can be off-putting.
Q: What do you like most about being a career musician? Least?
A: I get to do what I love and it pays the bills. That's joy in a nutshell. The hardest thing about it is just that. If I'm not having a good day or if something is bothering me, I still have to perform, and be vulnerable in front of tons of people, many of whom are judging or criticizing. For me, it is always easy to be afraid of showing my innermost feelings for people to see and hear. It might be better to just fake it til you make it, and just stand and sing and not show your insides, but I think that the most effective musicians are the ones that are as themselves onstage as they are off it.
Q: If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be and why?
A: I'm very easily affected by things. Sometimes something as silly as a dream I had the night before will change the entire outlook I have on my day. I need to develop a harder shell for things to bounce off of. That's not to say that I'm sensitive about my singing or anything. On the contrary, I appreciate constructive criticism, as long as it comes from a valuable source, for the sake of perfecting my art. But I am sensitive about people's behavior, and that whole friends/enemies thing. I just want to have more friends than enemies, and that's shouldn't always matter to me...but it does.
Q: You were quite young when you married; tell us about combining marriage with a singing career.
A: We've only been married a little over a year. We got married when I was about to turn 22. Combining a singing career with marriage so far is like combining chocolate with peanut butter. My husband and I moved to NYC for the Lindermann Program. He is so very proud of me, and he's very supportive.
Q: What would you be doing if you weren't a singer?
A: Reading. Reading and working at Disney World!
Q: Is there a quote or thought that is especially meaningful to you?
A: I've always loved: "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways," but that seems so cheesy right now!
And now for some facts and favorites:
Lisette was born in New Orleans, she's a Libra and considers herself typical of her Sign. Her family background is Cuban and her great grand-mother is from Spain. She has two younger sisters and everyone in her family sings and most of them play instruments.
Her favorite color? "It changes all the time...today I'd say it's purple."
Flower: "This is one thing that hasn't changed since I was 3...sunflower."
Food: "Horrible...it's pizza!"
Book: "WUTHERING HEIGHTS"
Movie: "Also WUTHERING HEIGHTS."
Time of day: "Depends on the season (my God, I'm such a Libra!): during the Summer it's morning; in Autumn, high noon; in Winter, afternoon; and in Spring, evening."
Musical instrument: "I play the flute and it's really my favorite. I also play piano and guitar some. I love piano, harp, and cello."
Composer: "I have several favorites: Schumann, Mozart, Debussy, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Handel, Bellini...but if I had to pick just one it would be Mr. Mozart."
Sunday 12/31/06 at 1:00 PM - A holiday matinee of the Met's new 110-minute English language version of Mozart's MAGIC FLUTE. This is the famous Julie Taymor production which is visually stunning and really quite magical. 
