- Fidelio, Bologna 2019
- Tristan und Isolde, Hagen 2019
- Anna Karenina, Bern 2017/18
- Mondparsifal, Vienna 2017
- Der Fliegende Holländer, Lyon 2014
- Erwartung, Vienna 2015
- Die Gezeichneten, Lyon 2015
- Erwartung Tournée
“The cast was good and homogeneous: Magdalena Anna Hoffmann and Daniel Franck handled the difficult couple in a noble way…”
Piero Mioli, L’Opera
“For the performance of November 15 the role of Fidelio/Leonore was assigned to Magdalena Anna Hofmann who turned out to live up to the demands of this character, both scenically and vocally: the soprano was greeted with long applause thanks to the excellent volume of her voice and homogenous timbre.”
Pia Lombardi, Ieri, Oggi, Domani, Opera
“Magdalena Anna Hofmann (12 November) boasts a first octave sounding more sonorous and is also more agile on stage. Her Leonore is determined and fully aware.”
Silvano Capecchi, OperaClick
“In front of Magdalena Anna Hofmann, the audience bows. The soprano makes her debut in Hagen as Isolde; she turns the title character into an angry warrior princess with a mysterious depth, a rich mid-range and a high range full of bittersweet splendor that makes her passion a force of nature. Magdalena Anna Hofmann is a sensational discovery in the Wagner repertoire.”
Westfalenpost
“… the singers also develop great charisma and presence in this context. Magdalena Anna Hofmann undoubtedly has the self-confidence that the staging ascribes to her… . … both of them make a great couple in terms of vocal color, and they steadfastly assert themselves amongst the exultation of the orchestra.”
Karsten Mark , Ruhr Nachrichten
“Above all, this applies to Magdalena Anna Hofmann’s effortless, never shrill Isolde, even in her dramatic outbursts. In the end she has enough strength for a truly exemplary Liebestod…”
Joachim Lange, Concerti
“Magdalena Anna Hofmann is a lyrically timbered, initially almost fragile Isolde, whose vocalization is increasingly gaining substance, and brought Biganzolis directorial concept to life with terrific acting.”
Regina Müller, Die Deutsche Bühne
“Magdalena Anna Hofmann made her role debut as Isolde in Hagen. And what a debut it was! She was much celebrated by the audience at its end. Of course also for the ravishing, emotionally sung and enthralling ” Mild und leise wie er lächelt…(Liebestod)”, but that was not all. From the first act on (her expressive” Wie lachend sie mir Lieder singen ”) Ms. Hofmann convinced with her powerful soprano, which she also knew how to use tenderly and with reserve. Her mastery of the obstacles of one of the most difficult soprano roles seemed almost effortless. And yet the role of Isolde is anything but effortless. Her characterization of Isolde, with all the facets that Wagner gave to this role, was outstanding. Magdalena Anna Hofmann’s debut as Richard Wagner’s ISOLDE could not have been more convincing! BRAVO for this great vocal performance!”
Detlef Obens, Das Opernmagazin
“The internationally sought-after MAGDALENA ANNA HOFMANN has developed into a dramatic soprano. After Isolde in Hagen, Beethoven’s Leonore will be her next role debut in Bologna. … The soprano dominates the tessitura of the Wagner part with great verve. A special advantage of her interpretation is the softly rounded tone of her youthful timbre, and her mellow, roundly produced sound, which keeps Isolde from the becoming a heavyweight Heroine. The Liebestod rings lyrically up to the effortless final Fs in pianissimo.”
Christoph Zimmermann, Online Merker
“The same applies to Magdalena Anna Hofmann as Isolde. Her soprano has great radiance and drama. Her duet with Nyári in the second act really gets under one’s skin… and her grandiose “Liebestod” stirs tears.”
Thomas Molke, Online Musik Magazin
“The Polish-Austrian soprano Magdalena Anna Hofmann in the role of Isolde is an absolutely top discovery this evening. With her dazzling vocal shades, her profound depth and her technically skilled expressive outbursts, she conveys pure emotion and passion. In addition, she manages to snend almost every sung word over the orchestra with an impressive textual understanding. She knows how to master her energy with her abilities and unleashes her voice in the right places. Her Liebestod has enchanting tenderness and warmth. An impressive achievement and an insider tip for the casting squad of larger houses.”
Ingo Luther, Klassik Begeistert
“Glücksfall”
“Die Aufführung steht und fällt mit der Besetzung der Hauptrolle. Die polnische Sopranistin Magdalena Anna Hofmann, die in ihrer bisherigen internationalen Karriere unter anderem schon Wagners Kundry und Elsa gesungen hat, ist für Bern ein Glücksfall. Mit ihrer dramatischen und emotionalen Stimme sowie ihrer darstellerischen Wandlungsfähigkeit verleiht sie der Titelfigur eine sensationelle Ausstrahlung.”
Thomas Schacher, Neue Zürcher Zeitung
“Hofmann schafft es, mit facettenreichem Sopran die Zerrissenheit ihrer Figur nachvollziehbar darzustellen. Ihr glaubt man, mit ihr leidet man mit. Im Winter wie im Sommer und bis zum tragischen Tod.”
Maria Künzli, Berner Zeitung
“Magdalena Anna Hofmann als Anna Karenina überzeugt mit ihrem facettenreichen Sopran gleichwohl im Mittelbereich ihrer tragfähigen Stimme während der erzählenden Monologe und ebenso den dramatischen Höhenattacken. Ihr dunkles Timbre spiegelt in dynamischen Differenzierungen die grüblerische Konstitution der konsequent Liebenden und erfüllte zudem in darstellerisch beklemmender Intensität ein schicksalhaftes Frauenportrait.”
Gerhard Hoffmann, Der Neue Merker
“Die Stärke der Aufführung liegt aber auch in der Besetzung der Hauptrollen: Allen voran glänzt die polnische Sopranistin Magdalena Anna Hofmann, deren Stimme sich vielleicht eher für Strauss oder Wagner eignet, die aber die Titelpartie mit der nötigen Dramatik singt, gute Tiefen hat (sie sang früher Mezzopartien) und sehr ausdrucksstark agiert.”
Alice Matheson, Der Neue Merker
“Für diese ist Magdalene Anna Hofmann in all ihren vokalen und körpersprachlichen Differenzierungen eine ideale Akteurin.”
Hans-Klaus Jungheinrich, Faust Kultur
“… Kundry Magdalena Anna Hofmann starts dressed as Wagner to transform herself into several of his female characters – and at the same time never leaves out dramatically blazing soprano notes.”
Walter Weidringer, Die Presse
“… the ensemble of singers around Magdalena Anna Hofmann’s vocally virtuosic Kundry … fulfiills its task perfectly.”
Jörn Florian Fuchs, Berliner Morgenpost / BR Klassik / Deutschlandfunk Kultur
“Hofmann is both seductive and caricature-imbued, morphing from a Wagner doppelganger, to Barbarella, to an armored Teutonic princess.”
Rebecca Schmid, Classical Voice America
“All of the singers, including the exposed Cundry (Magdalena Anna Hofmann) perform magnificently and master the sometimes tiring loop-like repeated phrases perfectly.”
Daniel Ender, Neue Zürcher Zeitung
“Magdalena Anna Hofmann’s Kundry is confronted with similar demands, but she is an experienced “real” Wagner singer.”
Renate Wagner, Der Neue Merker
“Magdalena Anna Hofmann as Kundry is – in different costumes – on stage the whole time of the performance. Vocally she can excel, sexy as Barbarella, in the seduction scene in the second act.”
Stephan Burianek, Orpheus
“Very strong was … Magdalena Anna Hofmann as witchy seductress Kundry.”
Michael Tschida, Kleine Zeitung
“excellent”
Gert Korentschnik, Kurier
“Hofmann is an intense, concentrated artist as she has shown here in the twentieth-century repertoire. Her soprano is slender and penetrating (…), her glazed determination and obsessive dedication to the Dutchman made for a riveting performance. ”
Stephen J. Mudge, Opera News
“…thanks to the lyrical grounding of her spinto voice she furnished the role with especial coloration and feeling. This was augmented by the expressivity of the outstanding stage personality that she already demonstrated here in Schoenberg’s ‘Erwartung’ and presumably will show again as Carlotta in Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten later this season.”
W. Kutschbach, Das Opernglas
“Magdalena Anna Hofmann was a Senta of the highest order, playing the double register of Senta’s apparent fragility and, through her vocal power, the inner strength that allows her ultimately to prevail over the elements. In the Ballade, the singer deployed all the nuances from murmur to cry, from nostalgic reverie to fervent prayer. One is under the spell of the character’s palpable tension, her voice reaching to the very limit, in this radical interpretation (see the interview that the singer granted us).”
Fabrice Malkani, Forumopéra.com
“The musical side of things was of high quality…. …a confirmation of the incandescent and diehard Senta of soprano Magdalena Hofmann….”
Christian Merlin, Le Figaro
“Thank God Magdalena Anna Hofmann…sang a clear and powerful Senta without exaggeration, capable of empathetic lyricism, demonstrating a beautiful timbre and no signs of strain: a thoroughly convincing depiction of the role.”
Robert Jungwirth, Klassikinfo.de
“Magdalena Anna Hofmann was thoroughly convincing in the arguments with Daland and thrilled the audience in her mind-blowing final which showed off her shining lyricism through high B‑natural.”
Beate Langebruch, Bachtrack
“Magdalena Anna Hofmann was a powerful and…beautiful-voiced Senta….”
Helmut Mauró, Süddeutsche Zeitung
“Magdalena Anna Hofmann’s Senta doesn’t back off in the slightest, with her musical, shifting colors; high notes that never came off as hardened; and well-directed shading.”
Anaclase.com
“Magdalena Anna Hoffmann: a luminous-voiced, adolescent Senta who passes from the freshness of youth to a maturity ready to undertake the utmost sacrifice….”
Caroline Alexander, Webtheatre.fr
“Magdalena Anna Hofmann charges her singing with energy tempered with delicacy….”
Emmanuel Dupuy, Diapason
“Magdalena Anna Hofmann’s Senta demonstrated a brilliant and fresh timbre….”
Bruno Serrou, La Croix/Classique d’aujourd’hui
“…soprano Magdalena Anna Hofmann created a Senta of absolutes: consumed by love, she will go as far as the utmost sacrifice to redeem the Dutchman.”
Philippe Venturini, Les Echos
“Magdalena Anna Hofmann was the incorporation of a Senta at once ecstatic and burning with love.”
Antonio Mafra, Le Progrès
“Simon Neal, with his velvet-like voice, was a dramatically well-constructed protagonist. The same was true of the sensitive Magdalena Anna Hofmann.”
César López Rosell, El Periodico
“Excellent stage presence from Magdalena Anna Hofmann (Senta)….”
Pascale Clavel, Le petit bulletin
“…soprano Magdalena Anna Hofmann impressed….”
Maricel Chavarria, La Vanguardia
“From Simon Neal’s Dutchman to the Senta of Magdalena Anna Hofmann…each singer carries his or her role perfectly.”
Raphaël de Gubernatis, Le Nouvel Observateur
“Magdalena Anna Hofmann was thoroughly engaged in the character of Senta….”
Alain Bœuf, l’Humanité
“It [the staging] somehow worked, not least because Magdalena Anna Hofmann used her experience in the role of the Frau (Erwartung) to telling effect.”
Gerhard Persché, Opera Magazine UK
“It was in the monodrama “Erwartung” (in Faradsch Karaew’s version) that the tension ultimately reached its highest point. The soprano Magdalena Anna Hofmann managed to carry the last third of the evening almost entirely by herself through her stage presence and superb handling of the text.”
Marion Eigl, Kurier
“The monodrama revolving around the nocturnal wanderings of the Woman found its brightly shining voice in Magdalena Anna Hofmann…”
Wiener Zeitung
“According to stage director Elisabeth Gabriel’s concept, the protagonist – represented by two performers at times appearing simultaneously on stage – experiences, as the very good mezzo-soprano Verena Gunz, her sexual awakening and its (real or unreal) consequences in the Book of the Hanging Gardens; in Erwartung soprano Magdalena Anna Hofmann represents the now mature protagonist re-visiting her past. Within the admittedly rarely enthralling theatrical staging Hofmann emerges as the genuine trump card of the production, thanks to her stage presence and her glowing dramatic voice, which she employs with nuance and always comprehensible diction: a believable [Getriebene] with a heroine’s aplomb.”
Walter Weidringer, Die Presse
“Magdalena Anna Hofmann with her deliciously pleasing soprano voice…”
Tiroler Tageszeitung
“… Magdalena Anna Hofmann as The Woman with her sensual, majestic soprano voice, able to transmit every imaginable emotional impulse or outburst. Quite simply an experience!”
Harald Lacina, Der Neue Merker
“Magdalena Anna Hofmann was floating some wonderful high notes that could reduce anyone to a state of entranced adoration.” UK Opera Magazine, Peter Franklin
“And the voices! … ravishing, the exultant Carlotta (Magdalena Anna Hofmann), who gladly dies a swift Liebestod.” Eleonore Büning, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
“[Charles] Workman and Magdalena Anna Hofmann (Carlotta) made the highpoint of the entire work out of their Tristan-esque duet of the second act. Here Schreker’s so characteristic alternative world of a beauty that perfects itself in intoxication and music blossomed with irresistible radiance. Christian Wildhagen, Neue Zürcher Zeitung
“Magdalena Anna Hofmann’s Carlotta … is made transcendent by the radiant musicality of the German singer.” Marie-Aude Roux, Le Monde
“Magdalena Anna Hofmann makes a congenial Carlotta to Charles Workman’s Alviano: one senses her contempt for society’s conventions just as much as her inner urge to paint. Hofmann’s ease in managing both the length and the manifold vocal demands of the role was apparent; it was beautifully crafted, sung with aplomb, and in perfect harmony with her supple, never clichéd acting.” Robert Quitta, Opera Lounge
“…we applaud the superb performance of the highly musical Magdalena Anna Hofmann as Carlotta.…” Bergrand Bolognesi, Anaclase
“…this musician trims her singing with a thousand nuances, giving all of herself, and triumphs in this role of an artist with a wounded heart who prefers to depict the beauty of souls rather than that of bodies.” Emmanuel Dupuy, Diapason
“And the voices! … ravishing, the exultant Carlotta (Magdalena Anna Hofmann), who gladly dies a swift Liebestod.” Eleonore Büning, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
“The direction of the singers was exemplary and Bösch was lucky to have soprano Magdalena Anna Hofmann and baritone Simon Neal as Carlotta and Tamare, after their success here in last season’s Flying Dutchman… . The loose-limbed Hofmann was convincing as the hip contemporary artist, with a Tracey Emin like enthusiasm for the perversity of desires.” Stephen J. Mudge, Opera News
“Magdalena Anna Hofmann was hardly a step behind him [Charles Hofmann] as the rebellious painter Carlotta, flying in the face of bourgeois conventions.…” Robert Quitta, Der Neue Merker
“Carlotta found in Magdalena Anna Hofmann a formidably invested interpreter, physically seductive and of particularly expressive accent.” Richard Martet, Opéra
“Soprano Magdalena Anna Hofmann … was a Carlotta who delineated all the nuances of her complicated character.” Rosa Massagué, El Periódico
“Magdalena-Anna Hofmann (Carlotta) portrayed her role in all its facets, sincerity and duplicity inextricably mixed together.…” Frank Langlois, Resmusica.com
“…a regular on the stage of the Opéra de Lyon, Magdalena Anna Hofmann lent Carlotta a beautiful mixture of vigor and fragility.…” Nicolas Blanmont, La libre belgique
“Magdalena Anna Hofmann’s Carlotta was nervy, committed, strong and fragile at the same time: she embodied the character incontestably, wearing her passion on her sleeve, yet revealing herself at times to be reserved, tender. The singer managed to propose very different facets of the character, thanks as well to the precision of David Bösch’s stage direction.” Blog du Wanderer
“The soprano Magdalena Anna Hofmann was a Carlotta worthy of [Charles Workman’s Alviano], …of a depth and emotional sensitivity of remarkable immediacy.” Bruno Serrou, Classique d’ajourd’hui
“Magdalena Anna Hofmann was appealing as Carlotta… .” Robert Jungwirth, Klassikinfo.de “Magdalena Anna Hofmann impressed as Carlotta, a difficult role that has to reach some nearimpossible heights, and … she brought a degree of personality to the work’s complex artistic female character.” OperaJournal
“Magdalena Anna Hofmann succeeds in convincingly personifying a young artist who brings by turns the greatest joy and the worst of misfortune to him who sincerely loves her.” Elodie Martinez, toutelaculture.com
“Astounding for her expressive intensity and concentration, Magdalena Anna Hofmann reproduced the most minute inflections of the heart and voice of Carlotta in all her complexity.” Philippe Venturini, LesEchos.fr
The stage presence of all the singers should be pointed out, as well, at the forefront of whom were the Carlotta of Magdalena Anna Hofmann and the Tamare of Simon Neal – who interpreted Senta and the Hollander in Lyon’s production of the Flying Dutchman last autumn. Magdalena Anna Hofmann gave an intense dramatic dimension to her character of an artist confronted first with her alter-ego (Alviano), then with absolute otherness (Tamare). In the scene in her studio, in which she explains in detail her vision of the strange hands that she paints, there was relevance to her choice of an interpretation more Expressionistic than lyrical, even if this central scene might also have been approached as a moment of pure poetry. Fabrice Malkani, Forumopera.com
The subtle changes that take place within the psyche of the artist often go by unnoticed. Magdalena Anna Hofmann, a fabulous actress who one regrets had never crossed paths with Patrice Chéreau, reveals their most intimate variations. Unavoidably transformed into an independent artist with a hint of punk about her, she left in the cupboard the disguise with which David Bösch decked her out: it was her gestures, her glances, and her inflections which embodied all the complexity of the character. Jean-Charles Hoffelé, Concertclassic.com
“Magdalena Anna Hofmann, Senta in the Flying Dutchman in the season’s opening, guaranteed the demanding role of Carlotta.…” Gilles Charlassier, Concertonet
“Onstage, the irreproachable theatrical direction echoed the vocal engagement of the interpreters in the midst of so challenging a test as this score presents. Particularly of note in this regard were Charles Workman, Magdalena Anna Hofmann, Simon Neal, and Markus Marquardt, who formed the work’s winning quartet.” Antonio Mafra, Le Progrès
“The total success of the performance owed much to a first-class cast, with the power trio of Charles Workman (Alviano), Magdalena Anna Hofmann (Carlotta), and Simon Neal (Tamare) as convincing vocally as theatrically.” Jean Reverdy, Le Dauphiné
Copenhagen | Birmingham | Berlin
“There was a similar intimacy to Schoenberg’s Erwärtung – notwithstanding the dark beauty and lustrous tone of Magdalena Anna Hofmann’s voice, and the controlled tension with which she unfolded Schoenberg’s great psychological drama. The RDO darted and shimmered around her to the manner born: this is where that opera pit experience pays dividends.”
Richard Bratby, Birmingham Post
“Exactly so was Magdalena Anna Hofmann’s sovereign interpretation of Schoenberg’s searing drama, Erwartung [– as of a person about to come apart at the seams]. She made a lasting impression with her focused dramatic voice and a superabundance of expressive ability. “Expectation” would be the translation of the title, and that is exactly what it was: long-endured, oppressive tension as an almost unbearable state of mind. For half an hour she sang about her beloved, who never came, out in the dark forest, which looked nothing like itself and deceived the senses. Musically the drama was highly unpredictable. With no fixed points of reference, Magdalena Anna Hofmann guided the audience through the convolutions of The Woman’s mind – a series of explosions of powerlessness, pensiveness, anxiety, rage, and ecstasy.”
Henrik Frøs, Politiken (Denmark)
“Last night Magdalena Anna Hofmann abruptly joined the ranks of my favorite singers [Anja Silja and Angela Denoke] (in what else but Schönberg’s Erwartung)! Her young voice peals like a bell, her acting abilities are suggestive, and the comprehensibility of her diction is extraordinary – in short, an ideal interpreter for the role of a woman rendered completely mad by a moonlight addiction, with a (somewhat) understandable attitude of expectancy for her nearly unseen but maniacally adored lover, for herself in the midst of her breakdown, and for her own uncontrollable, ‘perfectly normal’ life.”
Andre Sokolowski, Der Freitag
“The Polish-born soprano Magdalena Anna Hofmann is familiar with this kind of nervy repertoire (her credits include the edgy, dream-haunted Mother in Dallapiccola’s Il Prigioniero and the seduced, consumptive Carlotta in Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten). She sang the role heroically, from memory: a forceful, apt and driven performance.”
Roderic Dunnett, Bachtrack
“Magdalena Anna Hofmann, singing from memory, revealed a strong and characterful voice with a rich middle register allied to a rather metallic top range, which suited the character’s fluctuating moods and transient thoughts of warmth, jealousy, anxiety, resolve and deep despair. Her performance was internalised allowing one to focus on the text (a shame there were no surtitles). Hofmann has excellent diction however – a real plus! Thanks to Boder’s sympathetic conducting, the orchestra provided washes of sound without overwhelming the singer. Erwartung is an unsettling piece and best experienced live – and here exerted its curious magic.”
Alexander Campbell, Classical Source
“Schoenberg’s Erwartung was performed. Magdalena Anna Hofmann sang: easy to understand, technically masterful, maintaining with ease the middle ground between heated expression and beauty of tone.”
Anton Schlatz, Opern- & Konzertkritik Berlin
“The piece is a natural for an opera orchestra, of course, and Boder and the RDO darted, shimmered and swirled under and around Hofmann’s dark, lustrous voice without a false step. Hofmann herself told Schoenberg and Pappenheim’s horror story with cool control; as the implications of the words flashed across her face, she never forced her tone or descended into melodrama – making her short, sudden bursts of vocal characterisation all the more powerful. A ghoulishly rolled “r” here, a low hint of a snarl there: this performance was both intensely beautiful and unsparingly honest. On the opera stage, it would have been devastating.”
Richard Bratby, The Arts Desk
“The outstanding soprano Magdalena Anna Hofmann sang clearly and fervently, with frantically agitated feeling. The listener trembles and is filled with apprehension along with her character, as though it were Puccini, despite the crude text and hysterical psychodrama filled with elliptical “…” like Robert Musil’s Verwandlungen. What a pity that Schoenberg did not write an atonal Manon.”
Hundert11 – Konzertgänger in Berlin
“[This music is] late-Romantic up to its ears, and the Polish soloist Magdalena Anna Hofmann was appropriately theatrical with her voice, well respecting the style.”
Sune Anderberg, Klassisk.org
“Hofmann is capable of great dramatic expression, with an impressive vocal range, and clearly placed herself in the poor woman’s situation. … For me the prize went to Magdalena Hofmann. I did not know her before, but now I am going to follow her career – according to the program her repertoire includes Wagner, understandably, and I look forward to hearing her as Kundry one day.”
Concertanten
.