Posts tagged ‘Opera’
Opera singer believes ‘if God brings you to it, he’ll bring you through it’
You might call Lisa Daltirus the Save-the-Day Queen.
The soprano, who stars in Seattle Opera’s upcoming “Tosca,” has made something of a specialty in rescuing opera companies in distress. But never was the drama higher than on the evening in 2003 when Daltirus was sitting in the audience at the Richard Tucker Foundation’s benefit gala in New York’s Avery Fisher Hall.
The soprano performing excerpts from Verdi’s “Aida,” Aprile Millo, was struggling with illness, and announced that she would be unable to continue. Suddenly Daltirus looked to the aisle by her seat in the audience and saw the foundation’s executive director beckoning to her. They knew she had just sung the title role in “Aida” in Delaware; could she step in? Right now?
Daltirus had five minutes to warm up. She went onstage to sing the Triumphal Scene, and the first person she saw in the audience was Leontyne Price — the retired super-diva who used to own the role of Aida.
“There was no time to be scared,” remembers Daltirus, chatting recently during a break in rehearsals at Seattle Opera’s offices. “I am a deeply spiritual person, and I always believe if God brings you to it, He’ll bring you through it.” (more…)
