The Light at the End

On February 13, English mezzo-soprano Alice Coote will perform the role of Mère Marie de l’Incarnation in Francis Poulenc’s opera “Dialogue des Carmélites” at the Zurich Opera. It’s her second production—and first set of full rehearsals—since the start of the pandemic, and there are still worries about COVID-19: The cast has made an agreement that they won’t socialize outside of their work at the opera house. For our meeting in an office at the opera, Coote wore a leopard-print dress, a smartwatch, and a KN95 mask, and took occasional breaks from our intense conversation to look at the clear sky or listen to a horn warming up.