AILYN PÉREZ

upcoming wco appearance

Puccini’s La Rondine (4/7/24)

Hailed by The New York Times as “a beautiful woman who commands the stage” and “a major soprano,” Ailyn Pérez is in demand at the world’s leading opera houses and cultural capitals. As Opera News observes, “The phrase ‘an embarrassment of riches’ might have been invented to describe the combination of talents that belong to Ailyn Pérez … who truly seems to have it all.”  Internationally celebrated for her signature artistry, as the winner of the 2012 Richard Tucker Award she became the first Hispanic recipient in the award’s history.

Notable engagements of the current season include Ailyn’s highly anticipated role debut as Elisabetta di Valois in Verdi’s Don Carlo at Teatro di San Carlo under the baton of Juraj Valčuha. She also sings her signature role of Mimì in Puccini’s La Bohème at three different venues: the Royal Opera House, Staatsoper Berlin, and Opéra national de Paris. Ms. Pérez returns to the Metropolitan Opera for her role debut as Blanche in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites and reprises the role of Alice Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff after her acclaimed turn in the production’s 2019 run. She concludes the season with her greatly anticipated title role debut as Rusalka at Santa Fe Opera, led by Lidiya Yankovskaya. On the concert stage, Ailyn joins the Prague Philharmonia, led by Emmanuel Villaume, for her debut singing Ravel’s song cycle Shéhérezade. Additionally, she is the soprano soloist in Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with baritone Benjamin Appl, and the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire under the baton of Sascha Goetzel.

Career highlights include Violetta (La traviata) at Opernhaus Zürich, the Hamburgische Staatsoper, Staatsoper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper, San Francisco Opera, Teatro alla Scala, and the Royal Opera House – Covent Garden, where she was hailed as “an ideal Violetta” (Observer, UK). Pérez then went on to appear at Covent Garden in the same season, as the title role in Massenet’s Manon, and for her role debut as Liù (Turandot). Other highlights include Thaïs, Mimì and Musetta (La bohème), and Juliette (Roméo et Juliette) at The Metropolitan Opera; Adina (L’elisir d’amore) for the Bayerische Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Wiener Staatsoper, and Washington National Opera; Contessa Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro) for Houston Grand Opera (having made her house debut there as Desdemona in Otello); Violetta and title role of Manon on a tour of Japan with the Royal Opera House; Tatyana Bakst in the world premiere of Jake Heggie’s Great Scott (featured on an acclaimed Erato recording release) and Manon for The Dallas Opera; house debuts at the Bolshoi Theatre as Mimì (La bohème) and at Glyndebourne as Alice Ford; Contessa Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro) and Marguerite (Faust) for Hamburgische Staatsoper; Marguerite (Faust) in Santa Fe and Amelia Grimaldi (Simon Boccanegra) at Teatro alla Scala and Staatsoper Berlin, and also opposite Leo Nucci at Opernhaus Zürich.

In concert, Ms. Pérez has performed Verdi’s Requiem with the Orchestre Métropolitain in Montréal conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Mozart’s Requiem with Antonio Pappano and the Accademia Santa Cecilia Orchestra in Rome, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Essen Philharmoniker. In recent seasons, Ailyn has made guest appearances at gala concerts for The Metropolitan Opera and the Royal Opera House. Ailyn has also appeared in recital for London’s Rosenblatt Recitals at Wigmore Hall, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, and with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale. Her debut album, “Poème d’un jour” (a program of French and Italian songs on the Opus Arte label) was released to rave reviews, with the UK’s Independent newspaper awarding it five stars, while International Record Review confessed, “Every so often, a singer comes along who completely bowls you over.”

Ailyn Pérez’s appearance with WCO in Puccini’s LA RONDINE has been generously underwritten by Alan J. Savada and Will Stevenson.