Doris Soffel – operaexplorer

Revolution personalised: Jonas Kaufmann as Andrea Chénier in Munich.

It has been 7 weeks since my last opera trip as a virus forced to cancel plans during February, but the performance in Munich gave me an unexpected reward and even more: such emotional fulfilment and happiness that it is still difficult to put the impressions in writing. The production of Andrea Chénier by Umberto Giordani […]

Endless search for a dream: Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Opera National de Paris, November 12, 2016

Another night with high expectations was turned into mild disappointment in the planning phase and then into unanimous approval and enthusiastic applause by sold out and packed Opera Bastille cheering main protagonists, conductor and director who was not there to receive gratitude from the public. The run of performances of Les Contes d’Hoffmann was highly […]

Who is Elektra? “Elektra” by Richard Strauss, Deutsche Oper Berlin, April 3rd, 2016

Elektra was the last of performances in my shortened Strauss-Woche, and probably the performance I was looking forward to seeing most eagerly. Sunday, April 3rd. The morning sun was shining tenderly over the city which had Berlin half-marathon scheduled, and my hotel, together with Deutsche Oper across the street, positioned inside the loop, was embraced […]