Les Contes d’Hoffman

 For me, it’s a special experience to attend a live opera at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. It is said that attending a live concert is an experience. Family members like to go to things like the Dave Matthews band and other bands and also Taylor Swift concerts but for me attending a live opera is a great experience. Les Contes d’Hoffman or better said the Tales of Hoffman is a very complex opera with in three acts and it lasts over three hours. For me, the best aria was in act one where Olympia the puppet sung by Erin Morley was spectacular. I’ve never heard a Soprano aria sung so well. The aria for me is even better than the queen of the night aria in the marriage of Figaro. One great thing at the Met opera is there are no surtitles but each seat has its own little screen which can be played in several different languages. One could discuss many aspects about this opera. It is really about three separate fantasies that Hoffman has. There are  a familiar number of arias and tunes throughout this opera composed by Offenbach but I really enjoyed the overall performance. On the way back in the subway, I met a classical musician who trained at the Juilliard school in New York City and now lives in Australia. She is a classical double bass player and she said there’s a concert tomorrow afternoon at a church on Wall Street in which they will sing the Bach Magnificat.