The Met Opera’s ‘Romeo Et Juliette’ Star Nadine Sierra Talks Travel And Opera

19.03.2024 - 18:17 / forbes.com

Latin American soprano Nadine Sierra stars as Juliette in the Metropolitan Opera’s “Roméo et Juliette” streaming Live in HD to cinemas around the world this Saturday, March 23^rd at 12:55pm ET.

A Fort Lauderdale native, Nadine fell in love with opera at 10 years old after watching VHS tapes of La Bohème. At 20, she became the youngest singer to win the Met’s vocal competition, the Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition.

Nadine most recently performed in Paris as well as Milan, Berlin and London.

I interviewed the dynamo recently about her pre-performance ritual, her New York favorites and her top travel destinations.

My favorite opera that's not my own is:

My favorite opera will always be Puccini’s La Bohème. Although there are several operas I absolutely love, Bohème has a particular place in my heart because it was the first one I was introduced to at 10 years old. Bohème made me fall in love with the art form and solidified my decision to start training to be an opera singer. Since then, I’ve never looked back or wished I had gone into another musical genre. For these reasons, I would love to sing the part of Mimì one day. It’s a role I should wait a little bit longer for because Puccini’s orchestrations can be deceivingly heavier than other Italian operas. But good things come to those who wait!

My pre-performance ritual:

I always do something active before heading to the theater. It could be going for a nice walk outside or working out at the gym. This time is not only a way to decompress and be with my own thoughts, but it’s a physical way to warm-up my body and prepare it for the performance ahead. Singing opera is a physically demanding activity that requires a lot of focus and training ahead of the performance. If the body is completely warmed up and able to accommodate the stamina one needs for live performance, an opera singer is able to perform at their highest level each time. I firmly believe that.

After a performance, I:

Celebrate! I truly do! I’ll either go out for dinner or tea (I don’t drink very much as a singer) with friends or colleagues and just allow my body and mind to decompress after the adrenaline rush post-performance. Even if the performance doesn’t go as well as I would have liked, I still try to give myself a chance to be with loved ones and celebrate the little joys of life and music. The following day, I usually stick to my usual routine and keep active, eat healthily, meet up with friends, shop, watch movies, study music and just keep my life on a steady track of balance. It definitely keeps my mind healthy and focused on the important things in life.

My favorite kind of operagoer:

Operagoers that come to say hello at the backstage entrance after the