Met Opera's 'diva whisperer' takes bow

»Suzi Gomez-Pizzo, wearing a tangerine sweatshirt and sneakers, barrelled down the backstage corridors of the Metropolitan Opera on a recent afternoon, a trolley full of clothes behind her.

- JAVIER HERNANDEZ

It was the first act of John Adams’ Antony and Cleopatra, and Ms Gomez-Pizzo, who supervises costumes for female leads at the Met, was lining up a series of quick changes for soprano Julia Bullock, the opera’s Cleopatra.

In the span of minutes, Ms Gomez-Pizzo had to help Bullock change from a sleek burgundy gown to a slinky watercolour dress to a bejeweled pharaoh’s outfit. “You got this,’ Ms Gomez-Pizzo told Bullock, handing her a water bottle. “You look stunning”

After 18 years, Ms Gomez-Pizzo, 64, a fast-talking native New Yorker, is retiring this month from the Met. She has garnered a reputation as a calm troubleshooter with a knack for defusing last-minute sartorial snafus: broken shoes, missing earrings, ripped gowns.

But perhaps her most important role has been as confidante and cheerleader to the stars.

She meets opera singers at their most vulnerable, casually asking them to strip down and sit for fittings. She is often the last person they see before heading onto the Met's stage, one of the grandest in opera. It is a critical moment when doubts, fears and yearnings — for water, chocolate or moral support — are particularly urgent.

At the Met, Ms Gomez-Pizzo is known simply as the diva whisperer. Over the years, she has befriended some of opera's biggest stars, including Anna Netrebko, Lise Davidsen, Angel Blue, Elza van den Heever, Deborah Voigt and Natalie Dessay.