Focus on the laureates of Voice 2018 : Rocío Pérez
06/02/2023
Rocío tells us about her participation in the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2018:
“It has been five years since I took part in this competition and it was my last. Before the Queen Elisabeth I had won prizes in other competitions and I wanted to end my experience in a good way in Brussels. The big difference with other competitions is its length, which allows each singer an optimal preparation. Contests are always a place where you can completely expose yourself with a lot of media repercussions. It was a great joy to pass from one round to another, but it's also important to keep the desire to be a great singer if you don't pass. Contests don't always have the absolute truth.”
Meanwhile she performed Zerlina (Don Giovanni) at A Coruña, Paula (Los tres sombreros de copa) at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid, Dinorah (Le Pardon de Ploërmel) at Deutsche Oper Berlin under Enrique Mazzola, Tonina (Prima la Musica poi le parole) and Frau Herz (Der Schauspieldirektor), again upon invitation of La Fenice. Finally, her very first Gilda (Rigoletto) at the Opéra de Nancy was met with praise.
During the corona crisis, Rocío Pérez had to cancel interesting projects like Rigoletto at La Fenice, or Die Zauberflöte at the Hamburg Opera, but she was able to continue working at the Teatro Real in Madrid, which did not close its doors. She sang The Queen of the Night there, followed by Nannetta (Falstaff), First Niece (Peter Grimes) and Clorinda (La Cenerentola).
In 2022, the artist returned to the Semperoper in Dresden for several performances of Die Zauberflöte as Queen of the Night, a role she also sang upon invitation of Les Talens lyriques and conductor Christophe Rousset at the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad and at the Berlioz Festival. In concert she appeared in a Zarzuela program at Filharmonia Krakov and sang the solo soprano part in Fauré’s requiem alongside the Basque national Orchestra Euskadiko. She also participated in the Opera Gala of the German Aids Foundation in Bonn.
At the Opera house of Nice Côte d’Azur she debuted in the New-Year’s Concert 2022/23 and she will sing Nannetta in a new production of Falstaff further on this season. Next on are Blonde (her debut in the role) in Mozart’s Abduction from the seraglio (semi-staged version produced by the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada) and her house debut at the Ópera nacional de Chile as Gilda.
What are her dreams for the future?
“I would like to be able to return to perform in Belgium, but also, of course, I dream of singing in big opera houses like the Paris Opera, La Scala or the Metropolitan Opera.”
Before switching to opera, soprano Rocío Pérez was trained in clarinet and drama in Madrid. In 2014 she entered the opera studio of the Opéra national du Rhin and was subsequently admitted in the young singers program of the opera house of Lyon.
Her career took off after gaining lavish praise for her participation at La Fenice in L'occasione fa il ladro (Berenice) by Rossini, at Deutsche Oper Berlin as Queen of the Night and in her debut as Lucia di Lammermoor, and at the Semperoper in Dresden, also as Queen of the Night.Rocío tells us about her participation in the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2018:
“It has been five years since I took part in this competition and it was my last. Before the Queen Elisabeth I had won prizes in other competitions and I wanted to end my experience in a good way in Brussels. The big difference with other competitions is its length, which allows each singer an optimal preparation. Contests are always a place where you can completely expose yourself with a lot of media repercussions. It was a great joy to pass from one round to another, but it's also important to keep the desire to be a great singer if you don't pass. Contests don't always have the absolute truth.”
Meanwhile she performed Zerlina (Don Giovanni) at A Coruña, Paula (Los tres sombreros de copa) at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid, Dinorah (Le Pardon de Ploërmel) at Deutsche Oper Berlin under Enrique Mazzola, Tonina (Prima la Musica poi le parole) and Frau Herz (Der Schauspieldirektor), again upon invitation of La Fenice. Finally, her very first Gilda (Rigoletto) at the Opéra de Nancy was met with praise.
During the corona crisis, Rocío Pérez had to cancel interesting projects like Rigoletto at La Fenice, or Die Zauberflöte at the Hamburg Opera, but she was able to continue working at the Teatro Real in Madrid, which did not close its doors. She sang The Queen of the Night there, followed by Nannetta (Falstaff), First Niece (Peter Grimes) and Clorinda (La Cenerentola).
In 2022, the artist returned to the Semperoper in Dresden for several performances of Die Zauberflöte as Queen of the Night, a role she also sang upon invitation of Les Talens lyriques and conductor Christophe Rousset at the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad and at the Berlioz Festival. In concert she appeared in a Zarzuela program at Filharmonia Krakov and sang the solo soprano part in Fauré’s requiem alongside the Basque national Orchestra Euskadiko. She also participated in the Opera Gala of the German Aids Foundation in Bonn.
At the Opera house of Nice Côte d’Azur she debuted in the New-Year’s Concert 2022/23 and she will sing Nannetta in a new production of Falstaff further on this season. Next on are Blonde (her debut in the role) in Mozart’s Abduction from the seraglio (semi-staged version produced by the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada) and her house debut at the Ópera nacional de Chile as Gilda.
What are her dreams for the future?
“I would like to be able to return to perform in Belgium, but also, of course, I dream of singing in big opera houses like the Paris Opera, La Scala or the Metropolitan Opera.”
