Savonlinna showcases Oropesa's first Norma

Lisette Oropesa: long-breathed, limpid-toned Norma Picture © Jussi Silvennoinen

Sopranos who have left an imprint on Bellini’s Norma are few and far between. By all accounts the creatrix, Giuditta Pasta, did so at La Scala in 1831, closely followed by Giulia Grisi, the first Adalgisa, who soon took on the title part with success. Fast forward to the 20th century and the names of Rosa Ponselle, Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland, Montserrat Caballé, Beverley Sills, Edita Gruberova and Cecilia Bartoli come to mind — a bewildering variety of soprano and/or mezzo types who found their own way of singing this daunting role, one that leading prime donne find hard to resist.

More recently the Cuban-American Lisette Oropesa has emerged as one of the leading bel canto interpreters - internationally recognised as a Bellini specialist, thanks to her performances as Giulietta (I Capuleti e in Montecchi) and Amina (La sonnambula). Many regard her as the most accomplished Elvira (I puritani) of our time.

In a concert performance at Finland’s Savonlinna Festival, supported by the orchestra and chorus of the Gothenburg Opera under Riccardo Frizza, Oropesa has now undertaken the title role in Norma as a natural progression from these Bellini roles. With her lightish, yet always penetrating vocal timbre, she recalls the interpretations of Sills and Gruberova, emphasising the more vulnerable, feminine character of the Druid priestess.