Kristine Opolais is acknowledged as one of the most exciting young sopranos to grace the stages of the world. In October of 2010, she made a sensational debut at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich in the title role of the new production of Dvorak’s Rusalka directed by Martin Kusej. This was followed in June of 2011 by her debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Cio Cio San in “Madama Butterfly” which was received with extraordinary critical and public acclaim. Michael Mustillo of The Baltic Times sat down with Opolais for an exquisite interview.

Kristine, you have sung in many of the world’s great opera houses. How would you describe your appearance at  the Metropolitan Opera in New York?

Naturally, singing at the Metropolitan Opera is every opera singer’s dream. It is a very special place, and the audience is very open. They immediately will let you know whether they like you.
This is definitely what I wanted and planned to come here during my career.

But the beginning of my relationship with the Met was not the usual. In 2010, I had a contract to perform Musetta, in “La Boheme,” there. I cancelled the engagement to go to the Bavarian State Opera to perform in a new production of Dvorak’s opera “Rusalka,” which was much more important artistically for me. The role was very important as I fully understood that I could bring my own interpretation to the role, and my personality is much closer to Rusalka than say Musetta, even though I look the opposite.

Read the entire feature via The Baltic Times.