The American soprano Nadine Sierra's second album for DG, 'Made for Opera', focuses on three timeless operatic heroines, Verdi's Violetta in La traviata, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and Gounod's Juliette from Roméo et Juliette. She's partnered by the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI conducted by Riccardo Frizza. 

Gramophone Podcasts are given in association with Wigmore Hall. To see details of concerts for the week starting March 12, please scroll down.

James Jolly caught up with Nadine Sierra by Zoom to talk about the album and her relationship with these three remarkable operatic women.

You can listen to the Podcast above. To hear other Gramophone podcasts, or to subscribe for free to new editions, search for 'Gramophone' in your Podcast App of choice, or visit Gramophone's page on Apple Music podcasts.

You can also listen to 'Made for Opera' in lossless and Spatial Audio on Apple Music:

Wigmore Hall concerts (starting Saturday, March 12)

Saturday March 12, 7pm
Nash Ensemble              
Marcus Farnsworth bar   
Alasdair Beatson pf               
Benjamin Nabarro vn            
Adrian Brendel vc    
Beethoven Piano Trio in E flat, Op 70 No 2
Dyson A poet's hymn
Bax The white peace
Balfour Gardiner Winter
Coleridge-Taylor A song cycle – Sons of the sea
Keel Three Salt Water Ballads – Trade Winds
Warlock Captain Stratton's Fancy
Ireland Phantasie-Trio in A minor
Mozart Serenade in B flat, K361 'Gran Partita'
 
Sunday March 13, 11.30am
Irène Duval vn          
Ariel Lanyi pf           
Schubert Violin Sonata (Sonatina) in A minor, D385
Hahn Romance in A for violin and piano
Schubert Violin Sonata (Sonatina) in D, D384
Fauré Violin Sonata No 1 in A, Op 13 

Sunday March 13, 3pm LIVE STREAMED
Gary Hoffman vc
Bach Cello Suites Nos 1-3, BWV1007-09
 
Sunday March 13, 7.30pm LIVE STREAMED
Gary Hoffman vc      
Bach Cello Suites Nos 4-5, BWV1010-12
 
Monday March 14, 1pm LIVE STREAMED & BROADCAST ON BBC RADIO 3
BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert
Ingrid Fliter pf         
Haydn Piano Sonata in E minor, HXVI/34
Scarlatti Sonata in C sharp minor, Kk247
Schumann Etudes symphoniques, Op 13 (with the posthumous études)
 
Monday March 14, 7.30pm
Boris Giltburg pf    
Granados Goyescas – Quejas, o La maja y el ruiseñor
Albéniz Iberia (Book 3) – El Albaicín
Ravel Miroirs
Mompou Cançons i danses (selection)
Rachmaninov Moments musicaux, Op 16
  
Tuesday March 15, 7.30pm
Alban Gerhardt vc   
Steven Osborne pf                
Shostakovich Cello Sonata in D minor, Op 40
Britten Cello Sonata in C, Op 65
Dutilleux Trois Strophes sur le nom de Sacher
Brahms Cello Sonata No 1 in E minor, Op 38
 
Wednesday March 16, 7.30pm
Danish String Quartet                 
Schubert String Quartet in G, D887
Folk music from Scandinavia and the British Isles 
 
Thursday March 17, 1pm STREAMED ONLY
Gavan Ring ten
Fiacchra Garvey pf
Ann Cleare. Raymond Deane. Kinsella Songs

Thursday March 17, 7.30pm
Trio Balthasar (Michael Foyle vn Timothy Hugh vc Iain Burnside pf)     
Trimble Phantasy Trio
Bridge Piano Trio No 2
Brahms Piano Trio No 2 in C, Op 87 
 
Friday March 18, 7.30pm
Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective (Fleur Barron mez Elena Urioste, Savitri Grier vns Rosalind Ventris va Tony Rymer vc Tom Poster pf)          
Coleridge-Taylor Piano Quintet in G minor, Op 1
Beach Two Songs for soprano, violin, cello and piano, Op 100
Florence Price Songs
Elgar Piano Quintet in A minor, Op 84

​