Blog

An Interview With Stephen Costello
Interview Violette Leonard Interview Violette Leonard

An Interview With Stephen Costello

Stephen Costello has been a beloved mainstay at the Met ever since his 2007 debut. 15 years after originating Greenhorn in Jake Heggie's Moby-Dick, he triumphantly returned to the role when Moby-Dick made its Met debut in March. He generously spoke with me in between performances about Moby-Dick, how the trumpet influenced his singing, and what opera shares with Cirque du Soleil. Enjoy!

Read More
Highlights of the Met’s 2025-26 Season
Violette Leonard Violette Leonard

Highlights of the Met’s 2025-26 Season

The Met’s opening night world premiere is one of only three new operas, marking a departure from the six new operas presented only two seasons ago, and bel canto explodes back onto the stage. I couldn’t choose only five operas to explore here, so we’re expanding to six for this year only.

Read More
Met Opera 2024-25 Review: Les Contes d’Hoffmann
Review Violette Leonard Review Violette Leonard

Met Opera 2024-25 Review: Les Contes d’Hoffmann

Jacques Offenbach‘s Les Contes d’Hoffmann is opera’s equivalent of The Tortured Poets Department, only 14,592 times better. The music brims with kaleidoscopic vibrancy and the story of Hoffmann’s three loves is delightful, though dizzyingly strange at times. 

Read More
An Interview With Kathryn Lewek
Violette Leonard Violette Leonard

An Interview With Kathryn Lewek

Though Kathryn Lewek is undoubtedly best known as the definitive Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte, she has far more roles and range up her sleeve than just Mozart’s imperious monarch.

Read More