Camilla Tilling. (Sound Bites).(Brief Article)

Camilla Tilling dazzled New York City Opera audiences in September 1999, when her Corinna, Rossini's "celebre improvvisatrice romana," stole the show in James Robinson's witty production of II Viaggio a Reims. Who could have guessed from Tilling's lithe, bold stride and the confident radiance of her singing (especially her serene, spun-silver traversal of Corinna's final improvviso, "All'ombra amena") that NYCO's Viaggio was not only the soprano's New York debut but her international opera house debut -- and her first: Rossini role on any stage? As the native of Linkoping, Sweden, admits, "You could say, I suppose, that making this beginning here in this big way was a risk. But life has these charms, at times, and I was very, very, very lucky. It worked!" Other debuts followed almost immediately: Rosina at Gothenburg Opera, Sophie at Covent Garden and La Monnaie, Susanna at Aix-en-Provence. This month Tilling is back in New York for her Met debut, as Nannetta in the company's refurbished Zeffirelli Falstaff.

Tilling, who trained at Gothenburg University, landed on the fast track during the 1998-99 season, when she was studying ...