Praise for Kate Soper's "The Hunt"
Kate Soper's newest chamber opera The Hunt received its world premiere on October 12 & 14 at Miller Theatre at Columbia University. It received rave reviews from the press, collected below.
THE HUNT
BOOK AND MUSIC BY KATE SOPER
DIRECTED BY ASHLEY KELLY TATA
Commissioned by Miller Theatre at Columbia University
For three sopranos self-accompanying on ukulele and violin with fixed media
Learn more about the production
Photos of The Hunt by Rob Davidson for Miller Theatre
The New York Times
by Zachary Woolfe
12/5/2023
"Best Classical Music Performances of 2023"
"...there were abundant musical riches in 2023" including "Kate Soper’s sneakily sagacious chamber opera 'The Hunt,' at Miller Theater in October."
The New York Times
by Joshua Barone
10/13/2023
"'The Hunt’ Playfully Makes the Medieval Contemporary"
Kate Soper’s latest stage work is "a darkly funny fairy tale...Think 'Waiting for Godot,' but with the female rebelliousness of a Sofia Coppola film."
The Wall Street Journal
by Heidi Waleson
10/17/2023
"‘The Hunt’ and ‘Sin-Eater’ Reviews: New Songs of Old Worlds"
"Ms. Soper has a wonderful feel for layering women’s voices" and the trios "with their arresting harmonies" also "shine individually in solos—Ms. Umlauf’s coloratura; Mx. Cole’s darker, more vibrato-tinged sound; Ms. Amamiya’s sensual line..."
Classical Voice North America
by Susan Brodie
10/16/2023
"Three Virgins Walk Into A Bar…Er, Throne Room, In Opera With A Unicorn"
A "fresh and witty new chamber opera...Soper’s score and libretto function on several levels, offering pleasures for the eye and ear and ample food for thought."
Parterre Box
by Sylvia Korman
10/16/2023
"Unicorn Tapestry"
"The Hunt’s strongest argument for the possibility of growth, connection, and agency even under adverse and restrictive circumstances lay, of course, in its music, in which three individual voices were able to combine and transform into something infinitely rich and strange...a witty and beautifully sung new opera."
Observer
by Gabrielle Ferrari
10/23/2023
"Kate Soper’s Provocative ‘The Hunt’ Tells a Modern Tale Through a Medieval Lens"
"An enjoyable and intelligent opera, suggestively tying questions about women, representation and patriarchy together with a welcome light touch."
Seen and Heard International
by Daniele Sahr
10/29/2023
A "brilliantly inventive chamber opera"
"The creative team was adept under the direction of Ashley Kelly Tata, whose vision of Soper’s work proved to be a masterly partnership in portraying the voices of women while giving them a vigorous platform on which to explore tirelessly important ideas, both new and revisited."
Columbia Spectator
by Ana Carpenter
10/17/2023
"‘The Hunt’ is a contemporary take on classic lore"
"'The Hunt' takes on feminism in a medium notorious for portraying women as either delicate saints or manipulative harlots, and for that, it deserves to be remembered. How refreshing to experience an opera genuinely interested in exploring profoundly difficult but ultimately uplifting relationships between women."
Production photos by Rob Davidson for Miller Theatre
