Acclaimed coloratura Lisette Oropesa delighted audiences at the 2020 Hamlen-Palm Series of house concerts with an introspective and impassioned evening of captivating performance.

On March 2, 2020, Oropesa, in the midst of her critically acclaimed run as Violetta Valéry in The Met’s La Traviata, began the evening with Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro: Deh vieni, non tardar. Though the song is usually presented as the last song in a program, this spellbinding performance launched Oropesa into an enchanting evening centered around themes of nighttime and darkness.

She presented Claude Debussy’s Nuit d’étoiles and Romance, as well as Gabriel Fauré’s Clair de lune and Aprés un réve, transporting the audience with her elegant, ethereal vocals. Her tangible emotions ebbed and flowed through moments of melancholy, delight and tranquility.

Oropesa then shared breathtaking renditions of Samuel Barber’s Sure on this Shining Night and Nocturne, which spoke to her because Barber was a closeted gay man writing in a time when he could only be his true self at night. She shared her struggles understanding the complex language and poetry of Sure on this Shining Night and invited the audience to interpret the piece themselves.

Closing out the night, Oropesa returned to the stage for crowd favorite, Gioachino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville: Una voce poco fa. The rapturous rendition exploded into thunderous applause and a standing ovation from the emphatic audience.

The Hamlen-Palm Series concerts take place in the New York City home of Simon Yates and Kevin Roon.

Wherever in the world Oropesa performs, critics rave, solidifying her place at the top of her profession. One of the most in-demand coloratura today, she dazzled audiences in fall 2019 in her return to The Metropolitan Opera as the title heroine in Massenet’s Manon.

JACK Quartet launched the 2020 Hamlen-Palm Series on January 20. Oropesa followed, and countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo’s concert has been postponed to an undetermined date in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Hamlen-Palm Series is generously supported by the Michael Palm Foundation/Stanley Family Foundation and The Hargrove Pierce Foundation.