Daniel Rubin

Sensation at the Salzburg Festival!! The show, "A Diva is Born" on Sunday 8/24/25, with #asmikgrigorian and @hyungki_joo was spectacular. The more than 2000 seat Großes Festspielhaus was oversold, and additional seats were added on stage left and right to meet the needs. The Salzburg audience was initially puzzled, buy very quickly became utterly captivated by the Asmik's vocal mastery, humor, and self-irony, supported by the extraordinary comedic talent and perfectly nuanced pianistic accompaniment of Hyung-Ki Joo. It was remarkable to hear the reserved and attentive Salzburg audience transformed to become engaged and communally euphoric, snapping their fingers to the beat of Sting, and clapping along with Lady Gaga tunes. The most remarkable thing, however, was Asmik's ability to sing opera, jazz and pop with pure authenticity, without an "opera voice." All of her singing was expressive, elegant, and phrased beautifully. Some lyrics were slightly modified, which made the songs deeply moving.

These two consummate artists presented an entertaining and at the same time sophisticated program that was very memorable. If repeated, I strongly recommend everyone go to see this modern anti-diva, who is one of the most versatile and thrilling singers today.
@salzburgerfestspiele @nycopera @carnegiehall @sfopera #opera #classicalmusic #livejazz #concert #theatre #operapop