Sipping a flavorful tea and enjoying an opera are mutually compatible activities, writes blogger Fred Plotkin. One composer has even written an opera on the subject.

Commissioned by the Met and then dropped four years ago, Rufus Wainwright's Prima Donna opened Sunday in a performance by the beleaguered New York City Opera. Blogger Olivia Giovetti gives her review.

One is a veteran artist who gets better all the time; the other is a young singer whose immense gifts and potential suggest he might achieve comparable things, writes Fred Plotkin.

With City Opera at BAM during the house's 150th anniversary, Olivia Giovetti takes a look at the Academy's longstanding relationship with opera, and notes that BAM often beat its Lincoln Center counterparts to the punch.

Marco Armiliato will set a Metropolitan Opera record this week by leading six operas in six days, the highest number ever in a single week by one conductor. Blogger Fred Plotkin considers the feat.

With Valentine's Day bringing a romantic air, Operavore blogger Olivia Giovetti names five of opera's hottest onstage and offstage couples.

City Opera has unveiled its comeback performance of La traviata. Blogger Olivia Giovetti asks whether or not this will sustain the company or if it will succumb to its fiscal consumption.

The trailblazing African-American tenor George Shirley recently wrote an essay on race in opera that serves as a reminder of the opera field's past inequities and potential for progress, writes Fred Plotkin.

With the Grammys upon us this weekend, Operavore Olivia Giovetti looks once again at the opera category and asks what works could actually do with new recordings.

With John Williams's 80th birthday and Alban Berg's 127th, blogger Olivia Giovetti considers how the two composers approached borrowing and pastiche.

A scholarly book looks at the many depictions of people "of color" in opera, including the thorny stage practice in which performers apply heavy makeup to play leading roles such as Otello and Aïda. Fred Plotkin considers.

Rossini's William Tell and Barber of Seville are among the most popular operas of all time. But what about the other 37 in his catalog? Blogger Olivia Giovetti names the top ten rare Rossini operas.

The Met's revival of Verdi's seldom-heard Ernani is notable for a stentorian quartet of leads, but is regrettable for a somewhat tired production, writes Operavore blogger Olivia Giovetti.

Second only to the Metropolitan Opera's National Council Grand Finals in importance, the Houston Grand Opera's 24th Eleanor McCollum Competition winners were announced Thursday night following its annual concert of arias.

Opera company managers must decide how to balance the wishes of audiences with the larger goal of moving the artform forward. Those two priorities are not always in sync, writes Fred Plotkin.

"When outstanding singers appear in unfamiliar works, many current operagoers won’t buy tickets," observes Fred Plotkin. "This is a serious problem."

Operavore Olivia Giovetti has devised a fail-proof flowchart to Philip Glass's recorded operas in honor of the composer's 75th birthday.

The final installment in the Met's new production of Wagner's Ring cycle opened on Friday. Operavore blogger Olivia Giovetti questions the production's longevity despite its technical pomp and circumstance.

With The Artist leading the pack for Oscar nominations, Operavore blogger Olivia Giovetti takes a look at the longstanding ties between opera and silent film.