Back to NewsSupport sustainable innovation in opera and dance
Outdated browser
Denis & Katya © Opera Philadelphia i
From the Press "Unconventional new opera Denis & Katya challenges the ear, the eye, and the soul"
Details
20 September 2019
Philadelphia / United States
Denis & Katya
Winners, FEDORA Prizes
Composer Philip Venables and Director Ted Huffman © Dominic Mercier i
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Opera Philadelphia’s Festival O19 opens with game-changing world premiere Denis & Katya
September 19, 2019
“Opera Philadelphia opened its Festival O19 Wednesday on a level that eclipsed the expectations created by the unusually high success rate of past festivals, this time with the world premiere of Denis & Katya. Highly experimental in its manner, the piece exudes great confidence of purpose plus gritty, thoughtful artistry — in the spirit of O19’s commitment to making opera a distinctly 21st century thing.”
MUSICAL AMERICA: Philadelphia’s O19 gets underway with with the brilliant Denis & Katya
September 20, 2019
“Not only is Venables’s newest creation the most brilliantly original operatic work I’ve seen in a decade, it’s a sensitive, subtle, and deeply questioning meditation on youth, voyeurism, and the age of social media.”
OPERA NEWS: Denis & Katya
September 18, 2019
“Miller's luminous personal timbre and Hoffman's wide-ranging plangent security and exceptional diction complement one another; both artists call on affecting emotive coloration and keen dynamic shading”
BROADWAY WORLD: The world premiere of Denis & Katya at Opera Philadelphia
September 19, 2019
“Each piece of Denis & Katya is impeccably thought out … There has not been a piece of theater that has made me think so deeply in a very long time.”
OPERA TODAY: Edgy, Haunting Denis & Katya
September 20, 2019
“Composer Philip Venables and Librettist Ted Huffman’s unsettling, unconventional new opera Denis & Katya challenges the ear, the eye, and the soul to accept a wholly new hybrid form of operatic expression.”
PARTERRE BOX: Total Ellipse
September 21, 2019
“What I really want to leave you with is the sense that this is an important, out-of-the-box work, superbly performed. Denis & Katya deserves to have a long afterlife, and with luck, it will.”
“In addition to their beautiful voices, Miller and Hoffman display something perhaps even rarer: a sense of complete ease and comfort onstage, while at the same time bringing laser-like focus to the drama.”
Discover other stories
Industry News, Winners
Northern Ballet
“Gentleman Jack” Premieres in Leeds: Reimagining History Through Dance and Storytelling
26 February 2026
Leeds / United Kingdom
Gentleman Jack, the groundbreaking new ballet from Northern Ballet and winner of the FEDORA – VAN CLEEF & ARPELS Dance Prize 2025, will have its highly anticipated world premiere at Leeds Grand Theatre on 7 March 2026.
Read more
Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor for London’s Philharmonia Orchestra and the Conductor Laureate for the Los Angeles Philharmonic received Knighthood in New Year Honour! Esa-Pekka Salonen’s restless innovation drives him constantly to reposition classical music in the 21st century...
Read more
Industry News, Winners
Celebrating Artistic Excellence: Hofesh Shechter Honoured by the French Ministry of Culture
05 February 2026
London / United Kingdom
Celebrating Artistic Excellence: Hofesh Shechter Honoured by France
Read more
