The soprano Lisette Oropesa has long been a star in her American homeland and has recently also been thrilling European audiences with her slender, flexible and yet full-sounding voice. She has already recorded bel canto arias with the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra and now she can be experienced with a true peak of bel canto art: as Elvira in Bellini's "I Puritani". The opera is a single drama about the "right" religion, fought out among the Catholic Puritans and royalist Republicans of America in the 17th century. What sounds like a distant theme from history is a story of love, betrayal and madness musically heightened to the point of frenzy. The excellent MDR Radio Choir sings the choral passages, Oropesa is joined by other renowned singers, and the opera-experienced Italian Riccardo Frizza conducts.
