“Tharanga Goonetilleke, a Sri Lankan soprano who portrayed Ginevra, a princess framed for infidelity, sang to Shenyang, the Chinese bass-baritone playing the father who has sentenced her to death....In “Io ti bacio” Ginevra asks to kiss her father’s hand despite the injustice he has shown her. Ms. Goonetilleke crossed the stage at a deliberate pace, her sweet, sad plaint accompanied by a pale, fragile strand from the violins. The effect was devastating: just one high point among many.”

“When three female relatives surround Schicchi, helping him to prepare to masquerade as the dead uncle so he can forge a new will, the trio was meltingly gorgeous. Tharanga Goonetilleke, who sang in all three pieces, was a particular standout.”

“As Webley stepped back for the time being, his replacement was Sri Lankan opera singer (and TED talk alumni) Tharanga Goonetilleke. Goonetilleke gave us a brief overview of where she came from and how she got where she was before singing and her story was nearly as amazing as her voice. Though I may’ve been able to figure it out through my notes, I’m glad Goonetilleke mentioned that this song was from the opera Susannah, which made it simple to find the name of the song: ‘The Trees On The Mountain’. I’ve no interest in opera myself and under normal circumstances would put an opera performance fairly low on my list of priorities but I could still sit there enraptured by her voice, which overcame my usual indifference for the art form.”