From the opening notes of soprano Nadine Sierra’s stunning debut album, “There’s a Place for Us” (on Deutsche Grammophon), it is clear that she is a major singer. Having evoked an enthusiastic response from audiences and critics at The Metropolitan Opera, she went on to win the prestigious Richard Tucker award in 2017, and at the gala in honor of the great tenor, she stood out among the stars. This year, she won the Beverly Sills award.
Sierra, like Eileen Farrell and Dawn Upshaw, is one of those rare opera singers who recognize no boundaries. The title track from the musical “West Side Story” indicates that Leonard Bernstein is one of Sierra’s favorite composers, in part because his approach was multiethnic and merged different forms: opera, Broadway, jazz, and Latin music. Even at the Richard Tucker Gala, where she mostly sang arias from Italian opera, she included a duet with Vittorio Grigolo of “Tonight” from “West Side Story.”
