This week the Metropolitan Opera opened its 2023-24 season with the Met premiere of Jake Heggie’s “Dead Man Walking”  with it an all-star cast. Among the performers is Latonia Moore, making her role debut as Sister Rose.

In a recent interview with OperaWire, Moore noted that Heggie music “is composed in a Bel Canto way and composed with the singer first. It sounds like he composed the vocal lines before the orchestral accompaniment. You are never doubled in the orchestra and everything is the feel of Bel Canto. I never feel the need to scream or compete with the orchestra balance.”

She also noted that she was happy to perform alongside Susan Graham and Joyce DiDonato because they brought “purity” to their voices and a wealth of experience from having performed the opera over many years.

The first performance of the run represented Moore’s third opening night at the Met following “Porgy and Bess” and “Fire Shut Up in My Bones.” It also marks her fourth American opera with the company. OperaWire has raved about Moore’s scene-steeling performances noting, “Moore’s sound swelled into the large auditorium with increased intensity. You could sense all of the energy in the hall was moving in her direction.”

For those not in New York for the opening night, the production will be shown in cinemas in October. Moore will also return to “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” later this season and will make her role debut as Margherita in “Mefistofele.”

Recordings 

For those interested in seeing or hearing more of Moore’s work, the soprano has Grammy-winning recordings of “Porgy and Bess” and “Fire Shut Up in My Bones.” She also has a recording of “Macbeth” with Simon Keenlyside in English.

And here she is in her acclaimed “Aida.”