For her return to the Hamburg State Opera (Nov 28, Dec 2, 11 and 16), Ailyn Pérez sings Mimì in La bohème, in which, at the Los Angeles Opera, she had “breath to spare, hanging onto every line to imbue the music with nuance and innate fragility” (Variety). Looking ahead to next summer, she returns to this same role in Franco Zeffirelli’s take on Puccini’s masterpiece, opposite Ramón Vargas as Rodolfo, and with Gustavo Dudamel, music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, leading from the pit, at Milan’s legendary Teatro alla Scala (Aug 26–Sep 2). Her Hamburg performances follow a string of high-profile successes that include a star turn in Verdi’s La Traviata that featured Ailyn in the title role both in the Royal Opera House’s first ever live stream of a complete opera, as well as in a simulcast by San Francisco Opera to more than 25,000 people as part of the company’s Opera at the Ballpark series. Most recently, she scored a triumph in a house and role debut at Houston Grand Opera, where her “ideal” (Houston Chronicle) portrayal of Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello was deemed “a ringing success” (Houston Press). In February, Ailyn will make her long-awaited debut at New York’s Metropolitan Opera.
