“The public needs strong emotion to be impressed. And usually that’s why the composer lets the lyrical soprano die, because then the public is more like, ‘Oh, no! She died! She was so innocent!’ But exactly. That’s the point.” […]
[…] Mimì, she adds, is “one of the most approachable lyrical roles of Puccini for young artists, who always dream of singing Puccini characters, because they are so fragile. The music is so descriptive. It’s also very expansive and full of passion, and then again soft.” The character appeals to her because, well, she’s so appealing to everyone. “She’s a curious person. She’s dreaming in her little flat, as she says, about poetry and about love and about what common people—like we are, normal people—dream of. Love, romance, to [share] things with somebody. And it immediately appeals to each one of us, in the public or onstage. I think every girl dreams of that, too—right?” […]
[…] “I can deliver my message,” she says. “I can touch some of the people in the public, and that’s touching for me. That’s my duty.”
Opera News, May 2018
Flirting With Rapture by Henry Stewart
