Artist of the Week: Annalisa Stroppa
Italian Mezzo Brings her Adalgisa to Teatro Regio di Torino
By Francisco SalazarAnnalisa Stroppa is in the prime of her career performing on the great stages in the opera world and singing a diverse repertoire that spans Verdi, Donizetti, Bizet, Offenbach, Puccini, and Bellini. This week she returns to one of her signature roles in Bellini’s “Norma.”
The mezzo, who has become a specialist in the Bel Canto repertoire, has championed the role of Adalgisa throughout the world since she first sang the role in 2014. It’s one of the roles she has most performed and this week she will take it to the Teatro Regio di Torino for the first time. Thus far she has sung at it the Gran Teatre del Liceu, the Calderón de Valladolid, il Verdi di Padova, the Staatstheater Wiesbaden, The Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova, the Teatro Colón, the Bayerische Staatsoper, the Teatro San Carlo di Napoli, and the Teatro Massimo Bellini di Catania.
“With Adalgisa and with Bellini’s music I have always had an intimate relationship from the first time I held the score in my hand. It was love at first sight,” said Stroppa.
An agile actress, Stroppera notes that the role is perfect for her vocal characteristics and added, “I feel like she is mine and therefore I can express an infinite amount of colors and more emotions.
For those not in Torino for the production, Stroppa is set to return to the Teatro Grande di Brescia for a concert and to the Teatro San Carlo di Napoli for “7 deaths of Maria Callas.” She is also set to sing at the Teatro Principal and the Bregenzer Festspiele this summer. The mezzo also returns to the role of Preziosilla in “La Forza del destino” in the fall.
Recordings
For those not familiar with Stroppa, the mezzo has recordings of “La Forza del Destino” from the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, “Belisario” from the Donizetti Festival, “Andrea Chenier” and “Madama Butterfly” from the Teatro alla Scala, and “Norma” from the Teatro Carlo Felice with Mariella Devia.
Here is Annalisa Stroppa singing from “Anna Bolena” and “Norma.”