The Florida Grand Opera’s elegantly executed version of George Bizet’s generally lackluster The Pearl Fishers features two up-and-coming singers performing the role of Leila—sopranos Sydney Mancasola (who performed February 28 and March 1, and has two more performances on March 3 and 6) and Emily Birsan (who will perform the role on March 7, 12 and 14). I had the opportunity to interview Mancasola before the production premiered and, despite a torrential downpour, I caught her opening-night performance with slightly soggy shoes and high hopes. She didn’t let me down. The role marks the Florida Grand Opera debut for Mansacola, who won the 2013 Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition regional competition.

Florida Grand Opera’s The Pearl Fishers.

Neil de la Flor: What is uniquely challenging about playing the role of Leila? Sydney Mancasola: One of the challenges that comes with playing Leila is that the character is under a veil for the entire first act and part of the second act of the show. The plot requires that the character’s face is completely shrouded, because she is acting as a spiritual symbol for the community of the pearl fishers. There are a few challenges that come with this costume piece. One of these challenges is that it’s very difficult to communicate any emotion without the use of the face. I’ve tried to be more aware of my body language, and it has been a good exercise in having to portray different emotions using only the body. The second challenge is that it’s difficult to see! Now that we are in rehearsals on stage, I have been trying to memorize the space physically for each scene, so that I know where the obstacles are without having to see them. Seeing the conductor is also difficult, so I am waiting until the lights are set to plan how I will catch the downbeat when necessary.

ND: How do you balance technique and emotion when you perform? SM: A great conductor once told me “constant intention relieves the throat.” What this means is that when you inform what you are trying to sing with the emotion of the character, the singing becomes easier. Our voices are in our bodies for the sole purpose of expressing emotions, so if you allow them to do just that, they often know what to do! There are moments when I find myself having to pull back a little emotionally, but you figure that out in rehearsal. When I feel my voice being compromised by going too far emotionally in rehearsal, I just make a mental note that I have to back off about five percent in that moment. There are certain emotions that I know ahead of time might cause this problem. Anytime the character would be in actual tears, or any feelings of raw anger or frustration are signals to me that I will need to find a way to communicate those emotions technically without letting the full force of my own emotions free in those moments.

ND: For someone who is relatively new to opera, how can one’s ear distinguish “perfect pitch”? SM: Perfect pitch, or absolute pitch, means you don’t need any reference point to identify or produce a pitch. For example, if you asked me to sing a C sharp right now, I could produce that pitch without any tonal point of reference. It is an auditory phenomenon that is not fully understood yet. There are many studies being done to try to understand it better, including studies that link people with perfect pitch to early musical training, as well as linking certain genetic factors to absolute pitch. What some people don’t know is that this pesky habit, as I like to call it, doesn’t stop at just music. Car horns, alarms, overhead lighting all have pitches that my brain insists on categorizing.

ND: What distinguishes your voice from other sopranos? SM: That is an excellent question, and one that is nearly impossible for me to answer. Most people have had the experience of hearing their own speaking voice played back to them and thinking, “Oh my, is that what I sound like?!” Unfortunately, singing is very much the same. We have such a different experience of our own voices because of our proximity to our vocal production. Many of my colleagues have lamented to me that one of the sad paradoxes of what we do is that we will never experience what our voice sounds like to a listener.

Recordings are the best shot we have at hearing what we sound like, but it is still a far cry from the true experience of hearing a live voice. Some of the greatest divas have admitted that the sound they produce is not particularly pleasant to their own ears, but they have experience enough to know that it is resulting in a glorious sound for the audience. This separation from the true sound is part of the mystery of learning how to sing, and a wonderful challenge. One thing I have sensed in myself is that I have a particular sense for when my voice is projecting into a space and when it isn’t. It’s a difficult thing to describe, but there is a sensation present for me when I know my voice is filling a space, and I try to achieve that at all times within the scope of the written dynamic ranges.

The Florida Grand Opera will perform The Pearl Fishers at 8 p.m. on March 3, 6 and 7 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami. The opera will also be performed at 7:30 p.m. on March 12 and 14 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 S.W. 5th Ave., Ft. Lauderdale. For tickets, call the FGO’s ticket office at 800-741-1010 or visit tickets.fgo.org.