Returning on a high note

When Soprano He Hui takes to the stage at the Basilica di San Zeno, a landmark Catholic church in Verona, northern Italy, on Monday, it will be both her, and Italy's, first live show since the coronavirus outbreak resulted in a near global lockdown. The audience will be limited to just 120 people for the show at the church.

Accompanied by a string quartet, Quartetto di Verona, and pianist Robert Corliano, the soprano will perform classic arias, including Sola perduta abbandonata (Alone, Lost, Abandoned in This Desolate Land) from the opera Manon Lescaut by Giacomo Puccini, In questa reggia (In This Palace) from the opera Turandot by Puccini and Ave Maria from the opera, Otello, by Giuseppe Verdi.

According to He, both the string quartet and the pianist have performed with her before, when she launched a tour in China two years ago to celebrate the 20th anniversary of her career as a soprano.

She also chose a Chinese song, Pamir My Beautiful Hometown, as the song to close the concert, which she dedicates to her home country. The soprano, who is in her mid 40s, gave her last show before the coronavirus lockdown in Rome on Jan 21.

"I used to have a hectic schedule of touring worldwide, performing from one theater to another. Opera has been a great part of my life and giving performances has become my lifestyle. For the first time, I had no live shows in five months, which was a hard time for me," says He. "I cannot wait to meet my musician friends, perform onstage and share music with real audiences."

Born in Ankang, Shaanxi province, she became interested in opera after hearing a CD of La Boheme for the first time at the age of 18, which prompted her to become a singer, even though she couldn't understand Italian. She graduated from the Xi'an Conservatory of Music and made her debut as the titular character in a 1998 production of Aida which marked the opening of the Shanghai Grand Theater.

Since achieving second place in Placido Domingo's Operalia, a world opera competition launched by the legendary singer in 2000, and first prize at the Concorso Internazionale Voci Verdiane in Verdi's hometown of Busseto in 2001, the soprano has performed in every leading theater in the world, including the La Scala in Milan, the Vienna Staatsoper and the Opera Bastille in Paris. She is best known for her roles as Aida or Madame Butterfly, both of which she has performed on more than 150 occasions.

Since 2005, she has been singing at the ancient Roman amphitheater, Arena di Verona, which made her the first female singer in history to have performed on that stage for 15 consecutive years.

Last year, as usual, she traveled around the world, performing several challenging roles, including Cio-Cio-San in the Metropolitan Opera's production of Puccini's Madame Butterfly, the title role of Francesco Cilea's opera, Adriana Lecouvreur, at the Salzburg Festival and made her debut as Mimi in Puccini's La Boheme at the Puccini Opera Festival in Italy.

From December 2019 to early January in 2020, the soprano toured China, from singing the title role in Turandot at the Shanghai Grand Theater to giving a solo recital in the Night of Opera Arias at the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing.

She also returned to Xi'an, Shaanxi, to spend some time with her parents. On Jan 31, she had to return to Verona, where she lives, to continue her work.

"I was worried about my parents because the coronavirus pandemic was severe in China back then. But I had to leave them for work," recalls He, who self-quarantined for 14 days at her home in Verona and resumed her work giving singing lessons and doing her own vocal training.

With the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy in early March, the country became the first in Europe to impose a nationwide lockdown to stem the transmission of the virus. The soprano had to stay at home and stopped performing.

"I went through complicated emotions, such as fear, anxiety and sadness, just like many other people. I even couldn't concentrate on my daily vocal training," says He.

Then one day, the soprano picked up her brushes, set up a canvas and started to paint. The colors she used are bright and the paintings are abstract. Now, she has over 40 paintings, created during the lockdown.

"I used to paint for fun. Most of my paintings were realistic, but during the pandemic, I painted unconsciously, which was a process of healing myself. I painted one picture a day about my emotions, which really comforted me," says He. "I will keep those paintings and probably will have an exhibition. They reflect my life during the hard days and mean a lot to me personally."

She has also had time to learn and practice her singing skills, which was "a process of preparing myself for the future performance", she says.

In December, she will perform the title role in Italian composer Vincenzo Bellini's tragic two-act opera Norma for the first time.

"Norma is the most challenging soprano role in all of the Italian operas. Only the very best have the technical mastery and vocal ability to convey all the facets of this role," says He. "I've been preparing myself for this role and I am excited to face the ultimate test for a soprano. It will be something of great pride for me when I interpret the role onstage beautifully."