Double your bel canto pleasure when two of opera’s most celebrated sopranos make their Washington National Opera debuts in “Lucrezia Borgia.” Sondra Radvanovsky and Renee Fleming share the title role in John Pascoe’s new production of Gaetano Donizetti’s tragic tale of politics, poisoning and mistaken identities.
WNO Director Placido Domingo conducts the star-studded cast that also features Italian bass Ruggero Raimondi, Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo and American mezzo-soprano Kate Aldrich.
“Renee is a good friend, a brilliant artist and a fabulous singer, but we have different approaches to the same role,“ Radvanovsky says. “The advantage for the audience is that they will see two completely different versions of Lucrezia. I love portraying her.
“She’s a very complex woman who didn’t have a lot of choices. She made some, but others were made for her. Although she was a victim of circumstances, she’s a modern woman in many ways.”
Radvanovsky is thrilled to be working again with Domingo. An admirer since childhood, she began voice lessons at age 11 sparked by the dream of singing with him one day. That dream came true when he invited her to debut at La Scala as Roxanne in “Cyrano de Bergerac” opposite him in the title role.
Since winning the 1995 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and graduating from the Met’s Young Artist Development Program, Radvanovsky has become one of this generation’s finest Verdi specialists. Her Leonora in “Il Trovatore” is hailed throughout Europe. Later this season, she will reprise it at the Met and Covent Gardens.
“I like how Verdi allows his heroines to emote and how he writes vocal lines that suit my voice,” she says. “He repeats the beautiful high legato lines twice, first loud, then soft. Everything fits together like a puzzle. It’s not all about singing because acting is just as important in opera today.”
She comes to WNO following raves as Angelica in Puccini’s “Suor Angelica” at Los Angeles Opera. The role, both emotionally and physically draining, suits her dramatic talents perfectly.
“I gravitate to tragic heroines because that’s what my voice lets me do,” she says. “Maestro Levine (Metropolitan Opera music director) told me my voice has a natural sob to it. I found my father dead at 17, so when the [‘Suor Angelica’] director leaned over and told me to think of my father, the emotions poured out naturally.
“Because I trained in theater, drama is normal for me. Like any other athlete, an opera singer must train the voice and the body regularly to stay on top of the game. I don’t go out and eat big meals after a performance the way earlier singers did. I go to the gym, work out, train with a drama coach and a vocal coach, the whole package.”
If you go
Washington National Opera presents the company premiere of John Pascoe’s new production of Donizetti’s “Lucrezia Borgia” starring Sondra Radvanovsky and Renee Fleming sharing the title role in their company debuts.
Venue: Kennedy Center Opera House, 7 p.m. Nov. 15 and Nov. 17; 7:30 p.m. tonight, Friday and Nov. 11; 2 p.m. Sunday
Tickets: $25 to $300
More info: 202-295-2400; 800-876-7372; www.dc-opera.org
