What's perhaps most impressive is that Alfredo and Violetta's "Brindisi" unfolds in a small regional jet.

"The questions of sustainability, which is the central organizing concept of the way we must live now if we are to survive, should be examined in the context of the opera houses," writes Fred Plotkin.

The conductor Julius Rudel, who ran New York City Opera during its golden age, from 1957 to 1979, died on Thursday in Manhattan. He was 93.

A vandal attacked the Metropolitan Opera early Wednesday morning, leaving a trail of spray-painted vulgarities inside the house and near the bandshell.

The Georgian soprano Tamar Iveri has been released from her contract with Opera Australia after an anti-gay rant on her Facebook page provoked an angry backlash.

With Manaus playing host to four World Cup matches, the Belle Epoque gem is a must-see for the foreigners who flooded in for the tournament.

"Opera companies the world over face challenges nowadays and there are those in Italy (Florence, Genoa and elsewhere) that are troubled. But there is good news too," writes Fred Plotkin.

The actress Meryl Streep will star as the late, iconic soprano Maria Callas in a forthcoming biopic for HBO, to be directed by Mike Nichols.

Rameau's one-act Pygmalion received a site-specific staging at Madame Tussauds Tuesday night. Operavore's David Patrick Stearns writes that the venue brought some challenges to the score.

The Metropolitan Opera has called off its broadcasts of The Death of Klinghoffer, John Adams and Alice Goodman's landmark 1991 opera, over fears it could "fan global anti-Semitism."

The disclosures might be noncontroversial were it not for the fact that Met management began contract talks with musicians and stagehands last month aimed at cutting expenses.

Following last week's survey of gifted male opera singers under the age of 40 comes this look at promising young divas.

Fred Plotkin has selected 40 singers under 40 who he feels merit your attention and support. This article is about male singers; the next will introduce you to some future divas.

For Strauss's birthday, how about a little dance? We've collected the top five infamous renditions of the lurid routine from Salome.

Give WQXR morning host Jeff Spurgeon three minutes and he'll give you a Richard Strauss opera. Spurgeon breaks down Der Rosenkavalier in a New York minute (or three).

Give WQXR morning host Jeff Spurgeon three minutes and he'll give you a Richard Strauss opera. For Strauss Week, Spurgeon breaks down Strauss's Salome in a New York minute (or three).

Aaron Copland's folk opera The Tender Land is a quintessential story of the American heartland. It's also laced with jabs at the McCarthy era, which made initial audiences gasp.

66-year-old Italian soprano Mariella Devia made a rare return to New York Thursday night at Carnegie Hall. Blogger Fred Plotkin reports on the scene.

Opera promoters can't seem to get enough of "Love Couples." But Operavore writer David Shengold isn't entirely convinced by the latest effort to push a soprano/tenor pair.