"I had to deal with very abusive male figures": soprano Nadine Sierra talks about the challenges of being a Latina in opera

The first thing you see when Nadine Sierra comes on stage is the ease with which she moves, a naturalness that comes from her long training since she was 6 years old when, in the middle of her childhood games, she saw the opera

in

a VHS tape and was so impressed that she began to study singing.

The expressiveness of her deep eyes, when she raises her eyebrows making her face speak of her, is remarkable in every performance of her.

And then he opens his mouth and wonders happen.

She sings with a vocal portent that is a sonorous river of flights of technical fantasy and a display of notes in E flat, high, high, that move the audience to the center of the repertoire that she interprets.

"When I was a girl, my goal was to be able to do this, not to become a diva. And every day I win, because it is a fortune to be part of this," explains Sierra, in an interview with Noticias Telemundo.

Nadine Sierra and Javier Camarena in 'Lucia di Lammermoor', at The Metropolitan Opera, April 2022. Marty Sohl / Met Opera

His voice, of unusual strength when hitting the highest notes of the classical repertoire, shone in April and May when he led, along with the Mexican tenor Javier Camarena, the cast that performed the demanding opera

in the production of The Metropolitan Opera In New York.

The role of Lucia is very famous for how vocally challenging it is"

nadine sierra

"The role of Lucia is very famous for how challenging she is vocally and also because she hardly ever leaves the stage. By the time she shows up for the first aria, she's basically on stage the whole time," explains the American soprano.

Sierra, who was born in Fort Lauderdale in 1988, has been a musical prodigy since studying at Mannes College of Music and the Music Academy of the West.

In high school she sang in the Palm Beach Opera choir, and at age 15, she sang on

, the NPR show.

The following year she participated in a production of

, directed by Julius Rudel and soon after she became the youngest winner of both the Marilyn Horne Foundation Vocal Competition and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

The cast of the opera 'Lucia di Lammermoor', at The Metropolitan Opera, in New York, April 2022.Marty Sohl / Met Opera

"She's got charm, she's got style, she's got grace, and on top of that, she's got a fabulous voice," said Barry Tucker, son of legendary tenor Richard Tucker and chairman of the foundation named after his father, which in 2017 awarded the Hispanic soprano with a prize of 50,000 dollars.

The rest is history: Sierra has characterized complex and difficult characters such as Pucchini's Mimí;

Gilda, by Verdi;

Manon, de Massenet and, of course, Lucia, among many other roles that have taken her to the most prestigious world stages such as Carnegie Hall or La Scala.

"I think that the mentality of people who know about opera, and love it, must change.

, he explains about the current state of his job. 

The singer is very proud of her Latin heritage and always talks about her Puerto Rican father, who is a firefighter, and her Portuguese mother, who works in a bank.

But she, above all, remembers her grandmother Suzette de Ella, who also had an aptitude for lyrical singing but her family pressures prevented her from dedicating herself to that career.

"My grandmother wanted to be an opera singer and she had a beautiful voice. But her father, my great-grandfather, did not want her to have any kind of job, because she was a woman and a woman's job was to be a housewife to have children and that. was everything. Enough," he says harshly.

Violence that triggers madness

As the story goes, the Italian Gaetano Donizetti had reached the peak of his artistic gifts when he wrote this opera in just six weeks in 1835.

Based on

, a novel by

Sir Walter Scott published in 1819, narrates the tragic conflict between three main protagonists: the candid Lucia Ashton;

her brother Enrico de ella;

and Edgardo Ravenswood, the man he loves and who, as in many romantic classics, was the great enemy of his family.

"It's the most physical production I've ever had to do, and the most theatrical. Not only is it a live performance, but we also have two cameras on stage following us like in a movie and there's a movie screen so that people can see our faces, our expressions," Sierra explains about the show he starred in in New York.

A reductionist version of the argument would be to say that this is a couple marked by the tragedy of belonging to rival clans, with all that Shakespeare said about it in

But what is interesting about Donizetti's opera is its immersion in the terrible abuse suffered by Lucia.

“You get to see why Lucia loses her mind and how these men in her life really control her, and her world, until they turn everything upside down,” explains the singer in a somber tone.

Enrico Ashton, who was totally bankrupt, arranged a supposedly advantageous marriage for his sister, who was already engaged to Edgardo Ravenswood, the great enemy of the Ashtons.

This could not go well at all and that is what is shown in the famous aria

, known as the 'scene of madness', in which Lucia appears bloodied, after stabbing her fiancé, and begins to lose her mind while delirious. with daydreams that she is marrying her beloved Edgardo.

Nadine Sierra performing the celebrated aria 'Il dolce suono', also known as the 'scene of madness', in New York, April 2022.Marty Sohl / Met Opera

"I can play a lot of myself through Lucia. Because I understand the world we live in. It's the world I own and know. In a way, I can play her in a more believable way because I know how to move and express myself in this time," explains the singer, while referring to the violence against women that still prevails in contemporary societies.

From the time it premiered in the 19th century, through the novel productions of the 21st,

focuses on the process of destruction of a woman who is betrayed and violated by those closest to her.

It could hardly be more current: In 2019 alone, nine out of 10 murders of women recorded in the US were perpetrated by men they knew, according to the Violence Policy Center, an organization that monitors violence.

In nearly two-thirds of those cases, the women were the wives or other intimate partners of the men.

Not to mention the horrendous reality of countries like Mexico where, from January to November 2021, 3,462 women were murdered, an average of more than 10 each day.

Last month alone,

I had to deal with very abusive male figures, especially from an emotional point of view as it happens to Lucia"

Nadine Sierra

"I can relate to some parts of Lucia's life, because I've been in abusive male relationships.

I know what that's like and I've been through it since I was a very young girl. I had to deal with very abusive male figures, especially from the point of emotional view, as happens to Lucia", explains the singer.

Artur Rucinski and Nadine Sierra in 'Lucia di Lammermoor'.

'No matter what life brings you.

It's always a gift,' Sierra said of her career. Marty Sohl/Met Opera

—What things do you think should change in the world of opera today?

—I am very disappointed, in general, with the energy of the comments that are published online.

It's almost like they 're industry

or

.

You can disagree with new productions and certain things, but oh my!

you have to keep the criticism in a way that still shows some positivity.

—You usually express your concern for the new generations who want to venture into the lyrical profession, despite the criticism.

—I think people don't give opera a chance because they think: 'Oh, that's for older people.'

But I also think that if they're constantly reading these people who know opera and everything they say is negative, and they compare the singers to Joan Sutherland and Maria Callas and say, 'Oh, they'll never be like them,' then what do you expect? for the young generation if you just talk about it?

That's not progressive at all.

They are so caught up in the past that it almost makes me sick.

I have to say it.

Singer Nadine Sierra in the opera "Lucia di Lammermoor", in the staging by The Metropolitan Opera company, in New York, May 2022.Marty Sohl / Met Opera

—In a very macho environment?

—Yes, and a very hostile environment.

And we've already been through a lot of negative things recently because of the pandemic and what's happening in Ukraine.

It's a lot of negativity, enough is enough.

And the more negative energy you put into something, that's the energy you're going to receive.

And that's sad.

—Starting so young in a demanding discipline like opera is a great challenge, some kids suffer because they feel they lost part of their childhood or adolescence in order to fulfill their professional dreams.

How was your experience?

"Of course I suffered.

There was a big part of my childhood where I didn't have any friends at school because the kids didn't understand my love of opera.

They thought that this is for older people and that it was boring and something very strange.

Some kids were jealous because when we had special things at school, like a talent show or the chance to have a solo in the choir, I would usually do it or win an award... so I felt like I was a bit isolated from the kids. Other children.

Nadine Sierra and Artur Rucinski in 'Lucia di Lammermoor'.

"I experienced some situations where Caucasian women said very racist things to me and I couldn't believe it," Sierra said.

Marty Sohl/Met Opera

—Was family support important in coping with bullying and that feeling of loneliness?

—Once I told my mother: "I don't know if I want to sing anymore because I don't have friends."

And she said to me, "This too shall pass, it shall go. But your love of music will never go away. So you should carry on, and if those kids don't understand, that's fine. The future will prove you right."

And I believed him and of course I continued to sing and be interested in music, but for a large part of my childhood I suffered from it.

—Films like

My hair is naturally curly, very curly.

And I had a singing teacher, who has passed away, and she told me to straighten her hair because she saw me as ethnic, like she saw me as too dark.

And that's why now, so many years later, I still straighten my hair.

I don't let it be natural.

I was very young when she told me that and it left a lasting impression on me.

—But surely many fans want to see your curls, like on the cover of

I should show them because, you know, that's my natural state.

This is how I was born and I should never be ashamed of it.

Nobody should.

The cast of the opera 'Lucia di Lammermoor', at The Metropolitan Opera, in New York, April 2022. Met Opera

—Have you felt discriminated against for being Hispanic and dedicating yourself to the art of lyrical singing?

—I never felt that this was a problem, but I have been discriminated against.

And a lot of that happened during the Trump era, when he was trying to be president in 2016. Let's just say the energy in America changed a lot.

It changed in a way I never thought it could.

And I experienced some situations where Caucasian women said very racist things to me and I couldn't believe it.

What things began to happen to you with Trump's rise to the presidency?

“For example, once I was using a machine in a gym in New York and a woman took it from me.

And she told me: "Wait your turn, Consuela."

And she started using the machine.

I knew that Trump's energy was feeding people's prejudices."

nadine saw

I told him: "What did you call me? What?"

And she was like, "Oh, you know you heard me. I'm using it now."

She then she got up and stormed out, but that had never happened to me and I knew what the cause was.

He knew that Trump's energy was fueling people's prejudices.

—In her interviews, and on social media, she is always very proud of her Hispanic heritage.

What Latin singer do you like to listen to?

—I like to dance salsa, of course.

And I love Luis Miguel, my God!

He has a very beautiful voice and my mother was very much in love with him.

Another one we listened to all the time when we were very young was Julio Iglesias.

My mom felt a great passion for his songs.

—What message can you give to Latin girls who also want to venture into opera, but perhaps they do not have full support or are criticized as happened to you?

“In my life there were times when I felt really desperate.

And not just when I was very young and trying to make it.

Even now, as a professional, things have happened to me in my personal life that sometimes make me desperate and make me feel like I will never achieve the things I want.

But I can tell you this: no matter what life brings you.

It is always a gift.

And we have to live this time that we have, as if it were a gift, as if it were a present, because it is.

And I think if you keep working hard and have the dedication and more importantly the love for something, even if it takes a long time or it takes a group of people to support you, eventually that will come.