蜜柚直播

She was a mezzo back then and the title character Tosca is one of the great soprano roles in opera.

Not exactly a vocal fit.

But during her two years with the 蜜柚直播 Opera program from 2011-13, Wilde took the advice of her mentors and switched to soprano voice.

This weekend, she will make her role debut in 鈥淭osca鈥� at Linda Ronstadt Music Hall, where it will be for two performances Saturday, Jan. 28, and Sunday, Jan. 29, as part of the 蜜柚直播 Desert Song Festival.

鈥淚t feels like the perfect place to do it,鈥� Wilde said during a phone interview days before the show opened in Phoenix last weekend. 鈥淏etween my two years in the program was when I decided to switch to soprano from mezzo and there is something kind of neat about coming full circle, getting to do one of the most iconic soprano roles at the house that helped me make that decision.鈥�

鈥淭osca,鈥� a story of deception, jealousy, lust and love, has been at or near the top of most opera fans鈥� most beloved operas almost since it premiered in Italy 123 years ago. A long line of famous sopranos including Maria Callas have sung Tosca鈥檚 signature Act 2 aria 鈥淰issi d鈥檃rte鈥� (鈥淚 lived for art鈥�), creating historical templates for how to perform the role.

Wilde said she approached the role, instead, as she would a more obscure Jan谩cek character without the historical baggage on which to refer.

鈥淥ne of the things that I personally wanted to find in her is her vulnerability,鈥� Wilde explained. 鈥淚 think we really only get Act 1 to discover her love relationship with Cavaradossi before everything sort of falls apart in Act 2.鈥�

Tosca has an impossible choice: submit to the will of the corrupt Police Chief Baron Scarpia, who has long lusted after her, or see her lover Cavaradossi, who helped a political prisoner escape, be killed.

鈥淚 think as strong as she is and as strong as she finds herself to be, there is a real tender side to her and a deep faith that I think sort of gets broken in Act 2,鈥� Wilde said. 鈥淪he pleads to God and realizes the person she鈥檚 on her knees begging to is Scarpia, who sort of represents evil because God is not showing up at that moment. It鈥檚 fascinating. I think she is complex. She鈥檚 not one thing; she鈥檚 a whole bunch of things together.鈥�

鈥淚 think the big poignant thing in Act 2 for me is she is trapped between a rock and hard place in a most devastating way,鈥� Wilde said when asked how today鈥檚 audiences can relate to 鈥淭osca.鈥� 鈥淭here is no easy way out and I think those moments of putting people against a wall in the corner, it鈥檚 like what is the right choice? They almost have to make the wrong choice because that鈥檚 the only thing available to them. And I think we can all sort of identify with this feeling of wishing that there was a simple and easy choice to make at the moment when it feels that all of the choices are wrong.鈥�

鈥淭osca鈥� is the fourth production Wilde has done for 蜜柚直播 Opera since finishing the training program. She was in 鈥淩iders of the Purple Sage,鈥� 鈥淒as Rheingold鈥� and 鈥淪hining Brow.鈥�

Returning to the familiar landscape of 蜜柚直播 鈥渇eels like coming home,鈥� she said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a really nice feeling,鈥� said Wilde, who is now based out of Chicago.

On New Year鈥檚 Eve, Wilde added one more 蜜柚直播 footnote to her personal biography: She got engaged to Jonathan Porter at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an exciting time for me on many levels.鈥�