Christine Goerke first made her name in the late nineties, in Handel, Gluck, and Mozart. I remember the fresh thrill of her Iphigénie at City Opera in 1997. In the early aughts, she underwent a vocal crisis, as she recounted to Opera News, and has triumphantly reemerged as an exponent of high-dramatic German repertory. Last night, in Die Frau ohne Schatten, she proved herself the most potent dramatic soprano to appear at the Met since — well, let's not jinx her by naming names. But it's now a voice of immense force and wide-ranging expressivity. Absolutely go see her if you have the chance. Here is my 2002 review of the Herbert Wernicke production, which remains a rather superficial affair but certainly uses the Met stage with more flair than most productions of recent years.
