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Reborn as a Soprano, the Magnificent Vasilisa Pesaro
Teatro Rossini
08/13/2025 -
Gaetano Donizetti: Rosmonda d’Inghilterra: Sinfonia – Lucia di Lammermoor: “Regnava nel silenzio”
Gioachino Rossini: Semiramide: Cavatina “Bel raggio lusinghier” – La gazza ladra: Sinfonia – Armida: Finale terzo: “Se al mio tormento…Dove son io!... Fuggi!... E ver... gode quest’anima”
Vincenzo Bellini: I Capuleti e i Montecchi: Sinfonia – La sonnambula: Scena & aria “Ah, non credia mirarti... Ah, non giunge uman pensiero”
Giuseppe Verdi: Il corsaro: Romanza di Medora “Non so le tetre immagini”
Vasilisa Berzhanskaya (soprano)
Filarmonica Gioachino Rossini, François López-Ferrer (conductor)
V. Berzhanskaya (© Amati Bacciardi)
In addition to a stimulating season of popular and rarely-performed operas, Pesaro’s Rossini Opera Festival presents an annual series of concerts featuring prominent interpreters of the music of Pesaro’s native son. This concert featured Russian soprano Vasilisa Berzhanskaya. (Yes, soprano!) Those familiar with the singer of course know her as a mezzo. I most recently heard her at La Scala in December for their La forza del destino season opener. In Milan, Berzhanskaya was so impressive as Preziosilla that she made me reconsider one of my least favourite mezzo roles.
I first heard her in Carmen in Berlin, in the minor role of Mercédès, where she impressed with her rich timbre and riveting stage presence. When soon after she starred as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia in Florence, I was confused, as she was billed as a mezzo. She certainly had the goods as a mezzo, but her coloratura was so agile and bright, I was no longer sure if I’d misread the programme. Her Rosina was truly ideal, displaying the finest attributes of both voices.
Earlier in her career, Berzhanskaya dazzled audiences as the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte. How can anyone possibly manage such a huge range? Isabella Colbran (1785‑1845), Rossini’s muse and eventual wife, was one such singer. As with her contemporaries, Giuditta Pasta (1797‑1865), Giulia Grisi (1811‑1869), and Maria Malibran (1808‑1836), creators of several bel canto roles, Colbran was both soprano and mezzo. Some described such a voice as soprano sfogato or “vented” soprano.
For this recital, Berzhanskaya has officially rebranded herself as a soprano, a solemn event, as I am sure she will be one of the most remarkable sopranos in the years to come.
Berzhanskaya’s choice of repertoire was appropriately bel canto, with arias demanding a high tessitura and great agility. What makes her voice so remarkable is its rich timbre and natural trills. The most demanding piece was the extended scena from Rossini’s Armida, “Se al mio tormento…Dove son io!... Fuggi!... E ver... gode quest’anima”. Less known than the opera’s most famous aria, “D’amore al dolce impero,” it’s just as demanding technically, though this extended scene is vastly more demanding dramatically. It is the opera’s finale, where Armida pursues Rinaldo, whom she’d previously captivated. The sorceress has fallen in love with the knight. Before his ship leaves shore, she beseeches him to stay, then offers to fight on his side. Upon his refusal, she swears revenge. In addition to technical bravura, Berzhanskaya impressed with her expressivity, deftly navigating between pity, despair and finally rage.
In the famous excerpt from Bellini’s La sonnambula, “Ah, non credia mirarti... Ah, non giunge uman pensiero,” she was truly affecting in the first part. Thanks to clear diction, with every syllable well‑enunciated and clear, the Russian soprano managed to move us nearly to tears. In the final cabaletta, she conveyed utter joy. By accentuating her sadness in the first part, the contrast was dramatically effective.
An exceptionally beautiful and moving moment of the concert was Medora’s aria “Non so le tetre immagini” from Il corsaro, an early Verdi opera, stylistically akin to bel canto. By darkening her voice and placing emphasis on certain words, Berzhanskaya expressed Medora’s foreboding.
Swiss-born Spanish-American conductor François López‑Ferrer showed a great affinity for bel canto, both in his support of the Russian soprano and in his conducting of several purely orchestral selections. The overture to Donizetti’s unfamiliar opera Rosamonda d’Inghilterra revealed more elaborate orchestration than one imagines from this composer.
Berzhanskaya generously offered an encore, Verdi’s “Mercè dilette amiche,” an aria from I vespri sicilani, where she astounded with her delicious delivery and impeccably stylish coloratura.
For those curious to know the meaning of her given name Vasilisa, it’s the feminine of Vasily, derived from the Greek Vasilios, Βασίλειος, meaning King, or in Berzhanskaya’s case, Queen. In Slavic culture, it’s closely associated with the fairy tale, “Vasilisa the Beautiful.” Long may she reign!
Ossama el Naggar
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