In 2018 Lisette Oropesa set Paris alight as a girlish, vivacious Marguerite in Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots, catching the French Grand Opera bug in the process. The American soprano’s star has since risen ever steeper and swifter, mostly in Italian repertoire, but now she brings the two traditions together in an intriguing recital of French bel canto arias.

It’s a brave program (and artist) that segues from Guillaume Tell into Le Comte Ory, sells featherweight La fille du Régiment alongside Le Siège de Corinthe. But such is Oropesa’s skill, and so idiomatic are the Dredner Philharmonie and the Sachsischer Staatsopernchor Dresdeden under Corrado Rovaris, that it feels totally, thrillingly convincing.

What really jumps out in the comic repertoire is Oropesa’s intelligence and skill as a vocal actress. “En proie à la Tristesse” is delight dressed up as despair. Musical irony is hard to quantify, but whether it’s in the cheeky eyelash-flutter of grace-notes or the downcast eyes of a falling portamento, Oropesa...