Emma Hoffman
Emma Hoffman is a graduate of Barnard College. In 20 years she’ll be a crusty Upper West Sider in a babushka.
Fidelio, which opened last week at the Metropolitan Opera, will always be relevant, I fear.
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Even if our monolingual American tourists can be the source of vexation for many a Parisian, our singers gave much for the city’s operagoers to admire this month in stylish productions of Semele at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and I Puritani at the Opéra Bastille.
I had been hopeful that 2024 would end, if not on a high note, then one that was at least in tune.
Last Thursday evening, pure virtuosity was on display at the Veterans’ Room of the Park Avenue Armory, courtesy of soprano Barbara Hannigan and pianist Bertrand Chamayou.
Ainadamar functions on two levels: as a defiant dance against fascist totalitarianism and as an exaltation of the diva.
Lincoln Center is in full diva mode. Or at least that is what it seemed as I passed the line of posters outside Alice Tully Hall for the forthcoming Maria Callas biopic.
It takes a lot to stop a show with a few minutes of music—and that is exactly what Leah Hawkins did during the 2019 run of Porgy and Bess at The Metropolitan Opera.
As a burgeoning opera fan, I relied on YouTube to connect me with the art form.
This July, Munich played host to hordes of football fans in town for the European Championship—and arguably the two finest working sopranos today.
Matthew Polenzani strode into the Park Avenue Armory’s Board of Officers Room last Monday evening and was received like a beloved friend–and indeed that is what he is to many of New York’s opera-goers.
Her star is indeed on the rise, but squarely on her terms.
When it premiered at the Opéra Comique in 1875, Carmen shocked audiences with its frank depictions of female sexuality, the proletariat, and violence: subjects that have ensured the piece’s continued relevance and that have inspired numerous retellings and revisions.
It’s not hard not to feel jaded about Romeo and Juliet.
With its sumptuous wood paneling, frescoed ceilings, and various Gilded Age trappings, the Park Avenue Armory’sBoard of Officers Room certainly is not a bad place to spend Valentine’s Day—even better when it plays host to equally sumptuous music-making.
How many hours of our lives are spent looking back?
There is a strong case to be made that George Fridrich Handel is the composer most suited to the present moment.
Although primarily known as a vanguard of the Downtown music scene, John Zorn’s artistic and intellectual ethos is at home at the decidedly Uptown institution of Columbia University.
This Sunday marked a muted return of the Richard Tucker Foundation Gala, which had the dubious distinction of the fourth edition not to feature a prizewinner and perhaps the first not to provide complete orchestral and choral accompaniment for its performers.
How appropriate that the Met should present this supposedly “Jewish” opera after many in the audience had just spent twelve days immersed in the genuine article over the High Holy Days.
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