Enthusiastic reviews for Eun Sun Kim's Met debut

Eun Sun Kim made her Metropolitan Opera debut earlier this week, conducting La Bohème, for which she was " the star of the evening ."

Tommasini also praised Kim's "musical care, assured technical command, subtlety and imagination" and wrote that "it has been a long time since I have heard Puccini's score played so freshly."

Kim set the tone for the evening and allowed the singers to shine by giving them "...room to breathe." Yet she demonstrated that a conductor who sensitively follows a singer can also subtly nudge them so that a line doesn't sag. And throughout the performance, "Kim's way of conveying the structural elements of the score... was as important as her attention to detail," wrote Tommasini.

Further performances of Bohème at the Met under Kim's direction will take place on November 13, 17, 20, 26, 29, and December 3, 2021, as well as in the spring on May 16, 20, 24, and 27, 2022. For Tommasini, it is "great news that Kim will be in the orchestra pit for these performances."