KRISTINE OPOLAIS

Latvian-born Kristine Opolais has become one of the most sought-after sopranos in the world of opera over the last two decades. Her career began at the Latvian National Opera in 2001, where she was first a member of the chorus, but in 2003 she made her debut as a soloist. In the years that followed, she appeared in opera houses in Berlin, Milan, Munich, Vienna, and London, but her true worldwide fame was established at the Metropolitan in New York, where she saved a performance of La Bohème with a brilliant entrance. Hungarian audiences could already see her in 2019 at Müpa Budapest, where she performed with tenor Teodor Ilincăi and the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra, and in 2023 she – along with Latvian pianist Agnese Egliņa – is going to launch the second season of the series Stars' recitals with piano, the sixth in the Opera House, including the previous season's performances.

PROGRAMME:

Giuseppe VERDI: Aida – „Ritorna vincitor!” – Aida’s aria from Act 1
Francesco CILEA: Tre pezzi – Romanza, op. 29, no. 1
Francesco CILEA: Adriana Lecouvreur – Intermezzo (arranged for solo piano)
Francesco CILEA: Adriana Lecouvreur – „Del sultano Amuratte m'arrendo all'imper… Io son l’umile ancella” – Adriana’s aria from Act 1
Francesco CILEA: Adriana Lecouvreur – “Poveri fiori” – Adriana's aria from Act 4
Nicolai von WILM: Aus der Skizzen-Mappe – Abendstunde, op. 230, no. 6
Nicolai von WILM: Sommerfäden – Junges Leid, op. 12, no. 2
Nicolai von WILM: Trifolium, op. 116
Giuseppe VERDI: La forza del destino – „Pace, pace mio Dio” – Leonora’s aria from Act 4

--- Interval ---

Amilcare PONCHIELLI: La Gioconda – „Suicidio!... In questi fieri momenti” – Gioconda’s aria from Act 4
Giacomo PUCCINI: Manon Lescaut – Intermezzo (arranged for solo piano)
Giacomo PUCCINI: Madama Butterfly – „Un bel dì vedremo” – Cio-Cio-San’s aria from Act 2
Giacomo PUCCINI: Madama Butterfly – Humming Chorus from Act 2 (arranged for solo piano)
Giacomo PUCCINI: Madama Butterfly – „Tu, tu, piccolo iddio” – Cio-Cio-San’s aria from Act 3
Claude DEBUSSY: Suite bergamasque – Clair de lune, L. 75, no. 3
Antonín DVOŘÁK: Rusalka – „Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém” – Rusalka’s Song to the Moon from Act 1