In the latest installment of our Warm Up series, tenor Noah Stewart reveals that he might be found on a show day in search of cufflinks.

Silent film isn’t exactly the sort of medium you’d imagine to be a bespoke fit to opera, but in the hands of a 40-year-old Erich von Stroheim, Léhar’s The Merry Widow finds a unique, if not new, lease on life.

To many, Brussels brings to mind quarreling constituents in a large bureaucracy. But the city has a compelling musical scene that does not reveal itself as insistently as other cities, writes blogger Fred Plotkin.

Quick: name the three one-act operas included in Puccini’s Il Trittico. Give up? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. No, we're not talking about Pagliacci – that’s by Leoncavallo. Cavalleria Rusticana isn’t one of them either – that’s by Mascagni.

In the wake of Aaron Sorkin's "The Newsroom" debuting on HBO and in advance of July 4th, Olivia Giovetti takes a look at a recent work by Steven Stucky about the LBJ administration.

A delightful exhibition of old New York restaurants recently opened at the New York Public Library. It reminds blogger Fred Plotkin of the tenor Enrico Caruso, who loved food and frequented the restaurants around the Old Met.

With a new release from the Opera Babes, Olivia Giovetti looks at the malleable term "guilty pleasure," especially when it comes to classical music.

With the temperature already cranked up, the Princeton Festival goes even hotter and descends into hell this weekend with Rachmaninoff’s 1904 opera Francesca da Rimini based on the fifth canto of Dante’s The Inferno and starring soprano Caroline Worra.

Sandrine Piau is what is often described as “a special artist.” This term implies that she is undeniably gifted but either favors or is most suited for repertory that is outside the bread-and-butter works.

Over 1,000 free performances are set to take place tomorrow across all five boroughs as part of Make Music New York. Blogger Olivia Giovetti highlights the classical vocal offerings.

Can you appreciate a performer's music if his or her personal beliefs are deeply repugnant to you? That question comes up with growing frequency in the age of Facebook, writes Fred Plotkin.

Olivia Giovetti offers five pieces that epitomize the work of Missy Mazzoli, recently named composer in residence at the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Gotham Chamber Opera and Music-Theatre Group.

With Woody Allen taking us to the Eternal City in To Rome, With Love, blogger Olivia Giovetti looks at the top 10 operas set in Rome.

The best conductors and critics have a great deal to teach us, writes Fred Plotkin, whether we are performers or lovers of opera and classical music.

In the spirit of Mary Schmich's famous "Sunscreen" speech, Olivia Giovetti offers up a commencement address for the class of 2012 with advice gleaned entirely from the operatic canon.

“I love opera!” Fred Plotkin is so frequently told. “I have seen The Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables ten times each and have every record by Andrea Bocelli, Il Divo and the Three Tenors!”

In honor of Strauss's birthday, blogger Olivia Giovetti looks at how Strauss "created one of the world’s most perfect operas" with Salome, and considers the impulses he gives his characters.

There are many operas that people simply don’t need to hear re-recorded. Confess your favorites.

With many opera houses soon shutting their doors for the summer, if they have not done so already, those of us who love the art form must look elsewhere. Here are about a dozen opportunities.