This is a wonderful video. The text throughout the video explains it, though since your attention will likely want to be on the performance, it can be a little distracting. Also, with the limitations of Twitter, I think it can use a bit more clarification. Lisette Oropressa is an acclaimed Cuban-American soprano who has performed around the world as such houses as the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Vienna State Opera, Opera National de Paris, Royal Covent Garden and more. She was giving a solo recital at the Verdi Festival in Parma, Italy in early December, a month ago when she sang her fourth encore at the end of the concert, an aria called “Sempe libera” (Always Free), sung by the character ‘Violetta’ from Verdi’s La Traviata. It’s a somewhat odd selection to sing at a solo recital because as wonderful a piece as it is for a soprano, it’s not a pure aria since there is a male tenor part in the middle of it. And because there is a tenor part, but there was no tenor on stage – or anyone else on stage for that matter to help out – there was a silence during that part of the number. However, an Chinese opera student Liu Jianwei studying in Italy was in the audience and recognized how awkward this was and filled in. What’s so good about this video is not just him quickly joining in, is Ms. Oropressa being totally shocked when he does so unexpectedly and then, rather than offended by him singing the missing part, has a clearly appreciative reaction throughout. One note: her initial “ohhhh” is actually written into Verdi’s score – so while she’s not reacting to the young man right there, she is singing with him. Everything else is clearly pure reaction. As the video notes, the young man went backstage afterwards to apologize, but she was so gracious she took a picture with him and gave him her autograph. The video shows the photo, so there’s no need to post it here. (More properly, from the very little research I did about this, it is a “cabaletta,” which is a two-part musical form, though used as an aria since the bulk of the selection is for one performer.) My only “complaint” is that the video cuts off before the end, so we don’t get to hear the full piece or audience reaction. But what we do get is a joyful experience. Afterwards, when the video of this went viral, Li posted publicly about it, explaining in his own video that “I stood up to sing because Lisette Oropesa is a musician I love very much and I happened to have learned this opera before.” He added, though, that “It is definitely not something worthy of pride, nor something worthy of being advocated. Please don’t interrupt singers when they are singing on stage. It’s impolite behavior. Don’t imitate me and I will never do this again in the future.” But once was pretty darn good. And most definitely good enough. As a bonus, for those who do want to hear the whole thing, here is Lisette Oropressa again singing this same Violetta’s cabaletta, “Sempre libera,” at Madrid's Teatro Real in July, 2020. So, as you can see, she’s the real deal – making her reaction above all the more endearing. The portion shown in the solo recital video starts here around the 1:50. You’ll hear the tenor part sung off-stage as she listens to the distant voice and then sings with it – including her “Ohhhh.” And we do get the audience roars here, so you can only imagine what they were during that “joint performance.”
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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