Lisette Oropesa (born September 29, 1983) is an American operatic soprano of Cuban ancestry. Her repertoire includes works from Gluck, Handel, Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Wagner, Verdi, Bizet, Massenet, Bellini and Puccini. With her lyric coloratura soprano voice, she has performed roles in her native Spanish and English, as well as German, French and Italian. She is particularly noted in the roles of Susanna, Gilda, Konstanze, Lucia, Manon, Violetta, and Elvira.
Oropesa is a vegan, and a runner and marathoner who has been featured in Runner's World Magazine. In 2014, she co-contributed to Running, Eating, Thinking: A Vegan Anthology by Martin Rowe, where she talked about her weight loss and how she now follows a plant-based diet.
In 2015, she was a contributor to Master Singers: Advice from the Stage which includes interviews with opera singers about "analysis and awareness of their technique, art, interpretation and stagecraft".
Early life and education Oropesa was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Her parents emigrated from Cuba.
She originally studied to be a flautist before her mother, a music teacher and former operatic soprano, suggested she audition for the voice faculty at the Louisiana State University School of Music. She joined the voice program under the guidance of Robert Grayson who was the chair of the Voice/Opera at the LSU School of Music.
Career Beginnings Oropesa was a grand finals winner of the National Council Grand Finals at the Metropolitan Opera in 2005 and joined the Met's Lindemann Young Artists Development Program, graduating in 2008. She made her Met debut in a small role in Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's production of Idomeneo, conducted by James Levine in September 2006, and then sang First Lay-Sister in their new production of Suor Angelica.
As substitute, she sang her first leading role at the Metropolitan Opera, appearing as Susanna in five performances of Sir Jonathan Miller's production of The Marriage of Figaro opposite Erwin Schrott's Figaro in October 2007.Allan Kozinn, "A Figaro With Youth, Agility and Eros" , The New York Times, October 4, 2007
Work at the Met
In the 2007–08 season, Oropesa was seen in the Met's Hansel and Gretel as the Dew Fairy and, in the 2008–09 season, in the role of Lisette in La rondine.Anthony Tommasini, "Puccini and Operetta? He Does It His Way" The New York Times, January 2, 2009 She also sang the role of the Rhinemaiden, Woglinde, in the Met's 2009 Der Ring des Nibelungen, and additionally sang the off-stage role of the Woodbird in Siegfried.
In September 2010, she reprised her Rhinemaiden in the Met's season-opening production of Das Rheingold, for which won a Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording in 2012. In May 2011, she sang the part of the god Amor in Mark Morris's production of Orfeo ed Euridice. In December 2011, she created the role of Miranda in the Met's baroque pastiche, The Enchanted Island, singing opposite Plácido Domingo, and conducted by William Christie.
The end of the 2012–13 season culminated with her singing as Gilda in Rigoletto and as the Waldvogel in Siegfried where she was well received in both productions: "Her pure, smooth soprano and alert presence were both endearing" "...including the bright yellow Forest Bird, beautifully sung from offstage by Lisette Oropesa".
The end of 2013 saw an opening of a new production of Falstaff at the Met, conducted by Levine. According to The New York Times, "[with the role of Nannetta], the winning soprano Lisette Oropesa, sings with effortless grace and lyrical bloom".
In 2014, she starred alongside Jonas Kaufmann and Sophie Koch in the new production of Werther directed by Richard Eyre. The New York Times noted that "The bright-voiced, impressive soprano Lisette Oropesa is a sunny, winning Sophie."
At the beginning of 2016, Oropesa gave her first NYC solo recital with the Park Avenue Armory. According to Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times, she "gave a rewarding performance" and "brought uncommon freshness to this music".
Oropesa returned to the Met in late 2017 as Gretel in Hansel and Gretel in which "she was fully committed to arguably the most demanding of roles in this particular opera".
In 2019, she debuted in the title role of Manon, which was hailed by The New York Times: "Lisette Oropesa's performance in Massenet's opera at the Met is alone worth the price of admission."
In 2020, she returned to the Met for her second title role of the season, Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata. Her performance was praised in The New York Times: "...combining exquisite singing, youthful allure, affecting vulnerability and, by the end, bleak intensity, Ms. Oropesa emerged on Wednesday as a major Violetta". On March 1, she hosted the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and gave a donation of $25,000, ensuring each contestant received $20,000 and raising the prize money for the first time in over 20 years. She was subsequently named National Advisor to the MONC for her contributions. She also hosted the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD transmission of Der fliegende Holländer, which was a scratch taping of the performance. The original HD was canceled due to the pandemic and later released to the public.
And the end of 2025, Lisette opened a new production of I puritani at the Met, the first new production in 50 years. She was praised by the New York Times as "she so clearly articulated each pitch down the scale, it was like listening to someone run their fingers across the keys of a piano." On March 22, she also hosted the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition for the second time. She also hosted the Live in HD Performances of Andrea Chénier on Dec 13th 2025 and Tristan und Isolde on March 21, 2026. In 2026, Lisette returned to the Met to perform Violetta in La traviata, where she was described as "one of the best sopranos today" by OperaWire.
Performances elsewhere
Oropesa has appeared with the Welsh National Opera as Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail; with the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Il turco in Italia; at the Tanglewood Music Festival as Konstanze; at the Ravinia Festival as Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, conducted by James Conlon; for Opera New Jersey as Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor; at Arizona Opera as Gilda in Rigoletto; and at the New Orleans Opera as Gilda and as Leïla in Les pêcheurs de perles.
In April and May 2012, Oropesa appeared with the Pittsburgh Opera as Konstanze in a production of Die Entführung aus dem Serail set on the Orient Express in the Pasha's private train car.Mark Kanny, "Agile singing, clever staging, comedy keep 'Seraglio' on Track", Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 29, 2012. In October 2012, she again performed the role of Lucia with the Arizona Opera.Cathalena E. Burch, "Review: Lucia star stuns Tucson audience" , Arizona Daily Star, October 21, 2012 In November, she performed the role of Cleopatra in Michigan Opera Theatre's Giulio Cesare.
In 2013, she sang the role of Pamina in The Magic Flute at the Florida Grand Opera and reviews were universally positive: "Oropesa was beyond fantastic in her portrayal of Pamina."Jack Gardner, The Magic Flute , on edgeftlauderdale.com, January 28, 2013 "Her aria 'Ach, ich fühl's', sung as she believes Tamino no longer loves her, was genuinely moving ..."David Fleshler,"FGO serves up an entertaining and spectacular "Magic Flute", on southfloridaclassicalreview.com, January 2013 In the summer, Oropesa sang The Marriage of Figaro at the Santa Fe Opera: "Nothing in the evening surpassed her rendition of "Deh vieni, non tardar" in act 4, in which she spun strands of magic in the evening air" noted critic James Keller. Later in 2013, she sang the role of Amalia at the Washington Concert Opera for Verdi's I Masnadieri in which she "achieved total triumph as Amalia, the trill-filled part created for Jenny Lind." She was also called in as a last minute replacement for Nannetta in San Francisco Opera's Falstaff.
After her performances at the Met in early 2014, Oropesa's summer schedule included many concerts. These included Haydn's The Creation in New York and in Cleveland; the St Matthew Passion in Chicago; Die Entführung aus dem Serail in Bellingham, Washington; and a reprise of her 2010 performance in The Marriage of Figaro at Ravinia Festival. Other opera engagements included Nannetta at the Dutch National Opera; Gilda at Grand Théâtre de Genève; and Konstanze at the Bavarian State Opera. Her last performance of 2014 was her debut at the Los Angeles Opera as Rosalba in Daniel Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas.
In 2015, she started the year at the Paris Opera as Konstanze. According to one review, she sang "Marten aller Arten" with "incisive accents and passionate acting". Her next performance was at the Concertgebouw where she received a standing ovation for her rendition of "Caro Nome" in a recorded radio performance of Rigoletto. She returned home to New Orleans to again sing Susanna. According to The New Orleans Advocate, she "offered a fine display of vocal versatility, from the lilting coloratura of a young woman in love to the confusion and anger of the object of the lascivious intentions of her overlord, Count Almaviva". She then went on debut in La fille du régiment at the Pittsburgh Opera. "Oropesa's Marie lacked neither virtuosity nor personality. With solid high notes, accurate coloratura and an endless supply of golden-age trills (I stopped counting after five), this endearing artist ran a vocal marathon that might have paralleled the physical feat she was preparing to run in Pittsburgh Marathon the next morning". Her next engagement was with the San Francisco Opera in The Marriage of Figaro. A review wrote, "Oropesa is a charming Susanna. Her voice has a gorgeous delicate quality to it but still has volume. Her "Deh vieni, non tardar" was unstrained and she managed to do a perfect martial arts flip of Figaro when she loses her temper with him later in the act". She went onto another extremely successful debut in La traviata at the Philadelphia Opera "Oropesa manifested secure technical chops—trills, staccati, pinpoint dynamics and—most impressively—a long, sustained line that allowed her to hold the audience breathless in both "Dite alla giovine" and the party scene ensembles". In November, she was brought in for nearly back to back performances of Rigoletto and Die Entführung aus dem Serail with the Bavarian State Opera due to cancellations. She then finished the year with a performance of Rigoletto with the Teatro Real in Madrid in which she was a "Triumph".