Interview with soprano Adriana González

Adriana González. Copyright: Marine Cessat-Bégler

Praised for her vocal beauty, excellent technique and great musicality, Adriana González is one of the most promising lyric sopranos in opera today. She was awarded the First and Zarzuela Prizes at the Operalia competition in 2019 and since then has made successful debuts at the Opéra de París-Bastille, Opernhaus Zürich, Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Oper Frankfurt, Houston Grand Opera, Opéra de Lausanne, Teatro Real, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Dutch National Opera, Opéra Royal de Wallonie, Staatsoper Hamburg, Royal Danish Opera, Opéra National du Rhin, the Salzburg Festival… In addition to this, González has appeared in concerts with the NHK Symphony Orchestra at Tokyo’s Spring Festival under the baton of Marek Janowski, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra conducted by Fabio Luisi and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Lorenzo Viotti, among other orchestras.

Her first recording devoted to the songs of Robert Dussaut & Hélène Covatti, with Iñaki Encina Oyón at the piano and released in 2020 with the label Audax Records was hailed by the critics: “Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik”. She has also recorded the complete songs of Isaac Albéniz for Audax Records in 2021, and a French duet album with mezzosoprano Marina Viotti, released in November 2023.

Zürich:“ Antonia“ Les contes d’Hoffmann. Copyright: Oper Zürich

You are currently in Zürich to sing the role of Antonia in Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann at the Opernhaus Zürich in a production by Andreas Homoki, which runs until the 12th of July. Do you like the production? 

The whole team has an excellent dynamic, and we are having a wonderful time in Zurich despite the heat wave at the moment. I really like the production – it’s colorful, dynamic, and intense. With Andreas Homoki, the interaction between the characters is always a very important aspect of his staging. He is also very clear about the text and the intentions behind every word. Wolfgang Gussmann and Susanna Mendoza have also done a wonderful job in creating each character with different colors and different physical aspects to the costumes that bring out the different personalities Hoffmann encounters with his women. There is also a big platform which has been a welcome challenge in the physicality of the role. With every production, you learn something new.

It’s your role debut as Antonia. How would you describe this role from the vocal and the dramatic point of view? 

From a vocal point of view, Antonia has the same tessitura as Gounod’s Juliette, but the way the music is written is ten times more dramatic. The aria always stays in the middle range of the voice. The duet with Hoffmann is more fluid and romantic. Finally, the end Terzetto is twelve minutes of fireworks, stamina, and a massive orchestra. As Antonia is meant to be a musician, her act in the opera is filled with nuances and has a bit of a bel canto influence. 

From a dramatic point of view, Antonia is a vulnerable, sick, conflicted, and yet luminous character. She is a very complex character, and since we only get about 50 minutes to tell her story, it can be difficult to show these contrasting and conflicting ideas to the audience. Her story starts with her singing an aria, which is probably a reminiscence of a song her mother used to sing. Her mother, a famous opera singer, died of sickness – it is also implied that she died from her singing. Antonia has not only inherited her mother’s talent but also her sickness, and this legacy weighs heavily on her. Her father forbids her to sing, and later Hoffman, knowing that it would be the end of her also insists that she stop singing. This, of course, creates a big inner conflict, which later Dr. Miracle takes advantage of and uses it to end her life.

Zürich/ „Antionia“ Les contes d’Hoffmann. Copyright: Oper Zürich

You were a member of the Opernhaus Zürich’s International Opera Studio during the season 2017-1018. What memories do you still have from that time? 

I have wonderful memories of everything I’ve learned from the amazing artistic and technical team of the Opera House. I remember doing a crazy production with staging by Tatiana Gürbaca of La Finta Giardiniera, where there was foam on stage. I’ve also had the pleasure of working again with fellow colleagues from the opera studio throughout the years. 

As I started working in this Hoffman production, I was excited and grateful to meet again with the amazing Co-Repetitors, prompters, makeup, and costume teams. Most of the people who worked in the Opera House during my Studio years are still working in the theater now. This is a wonderful indicator that Opernhaus Zürich is a great place to work. 

You will return to the Opernhaus Zürich to sing Verdi’s Requiem next season. The soprano part is really challenging. What’s the biggest challenge for a soprano when singing this piece? 

Verdi Requiem is a mix of fine phrasing, absolute control of dynamics, and full-hearted expression. Personally, there are two challenges: stamina and emotion, which are heavily intertwined in Verd’is Requiem. Concerning stamina, you need to pace yourself and have a plan – breathing, phrasing, when to give more, and when to give less. At the same time, the piece is so exciting by its orchestration, vocal expression, and intensity. 

Concerning the emotion, it is very difficult to hold back, especially with the Libera Domine at the end. You have the impression you are asking God to save your soul. The interaction between the choir, orchestra, and soprano is excitingly intertwined, like an opera. During this last part, I always think I am singing to the people I have lost and consider the Libera Domine like a prayer for them, which can also be dangerous for the technical control. But I know Verdi wrote this to honor Rossini, whom he admired greatly. I can’t imagine how much admiration he had for the bel-canto composer to have composed such a majestic piece. 

In conclusion, if you have a technical plan and stick to it, even if the emotion overcomes you, you will survive! Haha!

After your successful debut with the Mozart role of la Contessa at the Salzburg Festival, you will be making your house debut at the Wiener Staatsoper next season. Is the Contessa one of your signature roles? How many times have you sung it so far? 

Figaro-Contessa in Salzburg. Copyright: Marco Borrelli

Contessa, along with Liù and Micaëla, is one of the roles I have sung the most so far. I first debuted Nozze at the Opéra National de Lorraine before the pandemic in January 2020, then I did two different productions at Oper Frankfurt, and finally, the new production at the Salzburg Festival. This role has opened many doors for me, and I am very proud to say I sing her like no one else does. When I studied the role with my teacher, we focused intensely on the breathing aspect to increase my stamina, and since then, my particular phrasing in both Countess arias has become a signature way of performing her, which has also pleased and surprised the public. 

I really love this role, as she keeps me in check technically. I am also very happy to sing this role many more times in my upcoming seasons. Mozart! Mozart! Mozart! Not easy to sing, but once you figure out how to sing it technically well, he really is an amazing composer to keep the voice healthy. 

Do you enjoy singing in Austria? 

My husband is Austrian… so what can I say? I do! I love Austria! It is such a beautiful country, which reminds me of my own, with breathtaking nature, mountains, lakes, and great food! And it’s musical history…! So rich and inspiring! The audience is also an amazing testimony to the love for classical music and the great admiration for singers. My debut in Salzburg taught me that singers still have a wonderful place in society and are crucial for the success of opera.

Talking of Mozart, your next recording in the label Audax Records will feature arias from Mozart and contemporaries with the Ensemble Diderot and Iñaki Encina Oyón. Could you please tell us about the idea behind this new CD coming up in Autumn 2025? 

Iñaki and I have always had a focus on bringing back “forgotten” repertoire. For some time, we had been thinking about my first solo album with orchestra. I was scheduled to debut as Fiordiligi in 2024, and during the preparation of the role, Adriana Ferrarese’s name came up – she was the singer who created the role of Fiordiligi. And so the project was born. We would record “Rondos for Adriana” in 2024, and it would come out in 2025. But what would we record apart from Fiordiligi? What else did Adriana sing? Who was this other Adriana?

The album would be a tribute to Adriana Ferrarese, a brilliant prima donna from Mozart’s time, with a particular vocal style. She had been famous for having an extraordinary chest voice, creative coloratura, and an extensive register of over 3 octaves, which she showed off by doing some extraordinary jumps. These vocal attributes spoke very much to me and Iñaki. So then Iñaki started compiling arias that had been written for her by composers such as Mozart, Tarchi, Weigl, Martin y Soler, Anfossi, Giordani, and Bertoni. All these composers wrote arias for Ferrarse to highlight her vocal prowess, and she would travel with these arias through all of Europe, conquering the stages of Vienna and London.

Iñaki Encina Oyón is also your piano partner when you sing Liederabende and song recitals. When did you first meet him and what do you enjoy most about working with him?

 We first met in 2012, while touring with the World Youth Choir. A year later, he invited me and five other young singers to do a production with him in Paris. In his generosity, he organized auditions and singing lessons for us. After that I was taken into the Opera Studio at the Opéra National de Paris. So I don’t know where I would be if it weren’t for him.

Since day one, Iñaki surprised me with his extensive knowledge of opera, his never-ending curiosity to discover new music, and his generosity. He is so generous with his knowledge and is always willing to give a helping hand when needed. Not only is he an amazing musician, but he is also a team player. He always seeks to bring out the best in everyone, be it as a coach, a pianist or as a conductor. 

I love one of his phrases when he talks about music: “Defender la partitura”. Which means literally to “defend the score”. He always tries to be true to the information the composer has given us. 

Next season you will be making your role debut as Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello, at the Opéra National Capitol de Toulouse. Although you sing Verdi’s Requiem, this will be your first Verdi opera. How did you prepare for this Verdi role? 

Verdi is quite different from other composers I’ve sung. Puccini has always been my favorite, but Verdi requires a completely different approach. I started working on Desdemona in 2023. Of course, you learn the music, you memorize the score, and work on it with your teachers and coaches. But the most amazing thing is feeling how time really does change your body composition to allow you to approach a different repertoire. You sight-read the music and think, “This is impossible”. Then you keep working on it, and a year later you think “oh, this is so much easier now”. My chest voice has developed significantly since I started singing roles like Suor Angelica and Salud in La Vida Breve. This has also given me a different approach to high notes and the internal sensation we have as singers. Desdemona is pure control with an intense low register and a delicate high piano. You have to have a technical plan that allows you to later delve into the emotion. So far, I have a plan on how to approach Desdemona. Now I’m just waiting for the orchestra as they set the tone for a singer’s phrasing. This is the last step. Once the orchestra comes, you know for certain what extra challenges you will face and how you will adapt your plan to thrive in a role. 

Do you plan to add other Verdi roles to your repertoire in the future? 

Of course! I would love to sing Amelia in Simon Boccanegra, for example, which I think I am ready for. So I’m just waiting for the circumstances to align for that one. I would love to sing it with Ludovic Tézier! Fingers crossed! Then I’ve already signed for my first Elisabetta in Don Carlo. To say I’m excited is an understatement… I believe, in the next 10 years of my career, Verdi will become a key composer in my development with roles like Aida, or Leonora in La Forza del Destino. But I’m not rushing. Just letting the voice grow and develop into its natural facilities. You can’t run before you know how to walk. 

What’s the most suitable repertoire for your voice? 

My voice is round, with a certain “morbidezza” that can be very beautiful for nostalgic and “dying soprano” roles. I know that is the road I must follow. Puccini will always be a part of my vocal journey. The way his music is written is very suitable for my voice. I look forward to adding more Puccini roles like Rondine, Tabarro, and Butterfly. I have also started looking at some of the serious Donizetti like Anna Bolena. I’d be excited to try this repertoire too.

What do you do to keep your voice healthy? 

I sing the repertoire that corresponds to my voice, and I take good care of my technique. Every project brings its own challenges, and your technique must continue to evolve, adapt, and develop, but not faster than what you’re ready for. For this, you need a full team of specialists: your technical teacher, coach, and osteopath. We are high performers, so we need to be accompanied by experts who can help us keep that high level. 

Tobias Müller