I eagerly sat in the front row of the auditorium where a Q and A session was held with Danielle De Niese, the soprano who played Despina in Cosi Fan Tutte. Cosi Fan Tutte is special to me because it was the first opera I had ever seen and I loved what I once thought was an archaic form of entertainment. I used to see opera as esoteric in that only the wealthy or those very familiar with the history could enjoy. Nevertheless I considered opera singers extremely talented in that they have to perform so many tasks at once, seeing a live opera made me realize just how tasking opera singing is. It is demanding that singers must balance projecting their singing with acting and accurate hand gestures and facial expressions, sometimes doing so in really awkward positions. I especially liked Danielle De Niese’s performance as Despina. Her character was witty and funny but also dramatic such as when Despina was discussing the infidelity that exists in men. Most of all, I simply liked her singing. However, from the discussions during the backstage tour, I was also told that at times opera singers are vain and difficult to please. We were giving the example of how two opera singers fought over dressing rooms. I quietly hoped that Danielle de Niese, being a very successful singer, would not be the same.

After a brief introduction of Ms. De Niese’s background, who we were told has been called “Opera’s coolest soprano,” a pretty and young woman walked in. She greeted everyone with a big smile and so began the Q and A session. The session left me with a strange impression. Here was Danielle De Niese, an accomplished singer in the field of opera, a form of art that I had only begun to feel accustomed to, yet she was very much modern and relatable. What made her more interesting for me was her history with her love of opera and the experiences she had while performing. She spoke of a young girl who discovered singing and dance early and never lost her love of performing. She also spoke about the feeling of loneliness, as her profession requires a lot of travel and focus on her work. This mirrors my own passion of biomedical research. I began to learn about the sciences early when I came down with a very bad case of food poisoning. Although I have learned about other topics, I have never lost my interest in research. However anyone who has done research knows how time consuming and tedious the work is.

What made me realize that she is, in fact, “Opera’s coolest soprano” was the tour she gave us after the Q and A session. As she took us around the building, she spoke to us openly and greeted the various crews that passed by with familiarity. Danielle De Niese, or as the crew referred to her “Danni,” is not simply only a well-reviewed performer, but is also a very sociable person. I was especially surprised when she invited us to her dressing room. There she showed us her dresses and even told us about how she found four bent screws, a symbol of luck. She was very patient to the point that the organizers of the tour politely urged us to leave so that Ms. De Niese can prepare for her show. She always made sure to ask if there were any more questions during the tour and spent a lot of time joking, as well as talking, about her daily life as an opera singer. As everyone wished her luck, she left us with one last friendly message: to friend her on Facebook.