Soprano drammatico d’agilità come già Abigaille nel Nabucco, Odabella alterna momenti di alta drammaticità ad altri di più squisito lirismo. Un ruolo impervio che la possente voce del soprano californiano Leah Crocetto ha risolto con sicurezza nello svettante registro acuto, e ancor meglio nell’intensa carica espressiva con cui ha sapientemente cesellato “Oh! Nel fuggente nuvolo” e il duetto con Foresto, il suo appassionato ma debole amante.

Crocetto powerfully soared above the orchestra, chorus and her fellow soloists in the “Rex tremendae” section, and serenely sang the closing, hushed “Libera me.”

Leah Crocetto sings Leonora with sweetness and strength, moulding crescendos in her Act 1 cavatina Tacea la notte placida with masterly control.

As Margherita, Leah Crocetto looked resplendent in glittering pale teal and sounded much the same. She did project a tone of youthful innocence at the beginning of the first encounter with Faust, but her upper notes were far from girlish in their expansive power. Margherita’s Act 2 aria is probably the most familiar number in the opera and was sung with passion and the kind of soaring dynamic that can only be fully appreciated in the theatre. For all the wonder of certain fabulous high notes, sometimes smoother and more focused quieter moments were just as impressive.

Soprano Leah Crocetto, who had moved back to her home state of Michigan to take a teaching position during the pandemic, made a sensational return to the stage.

Crocetto... was a sensation as Anna. Her many virtuosic runs shimmered with clarity and precision, and she displayed consummate control of her tone, from demure sweetness to overwhelming power on explosive top notes.