When Lisette Oropesa sang Sempre Libera from La Traviata as an encore to a recital in Italy, she had no idea that an audience member would pipe up to sing the missing tenor part. Their impromptu Verdi went viral online. But the Cuban-American soprano’s success as Violetta is no mere social media hit. She’s been bringing the audience to tears (and their feet) singing the role at major opera houses in the UK, USA, Italy, and Spain for the past couple of years – and now audiences round the world can relish her tragic heroine in this new studio recording from Pentatone.

Her Violetta is wonderfully alive and real, sung with a beauty at once strong and fragile, and never less than completely heartfelt. Whether it’s the way Oropesa finds space to make phrases hang magically in the air (in E strano, for instance), or to create irresistible legato lines and float effortless high notes (Addio, del passato), this is an interpretation that stands up with the best Violettas. She is...