A great opera can be loud but not overbearing. That's not the case in many restaurants and other public spaces, where increasing noise has deadened our senses, writes blogger Fred Plotkin.

Fifty years after the Berlin Wall was erected, a historic opera performance from West Berlin is released on DVD. Operavore blogger Olivia Giovetti examines this recording against its cultural, political and operatic climate.

The centennial of Benjamin Britten's birth is 2013 and blogger Fred Plotkin fears he'll be overlooked amid the bicentennial celebrations of Wagner and Verdi. Here's why he shouldn't be.

How does Joseph Calleja buck the traditional tenor stereotype and manage to keep his performances fresh and vibrant? Read on for his show-day rituals in the next installment of Warm Up.

Antonin Dvorak's vision of a "New World" still speaks to people today, writes blogger Fred Plotkin.

Operavore Olivia Giovetti rounds up her five favorite discs of the fall. Enjoy them from your own living room or catch their singers in action over the next few weeks in New York.

In the previous dispatches of this series about staging opera in tough economic times, we explored many choices opera companies can make to do great art without descending into financial disaster, whether it be cutting productions, re-using old ones or sharing costs among companies.

As SONiC: Sounds of a New Century takes over New York with over 100 works written in the last ten years, blogger Olivia Giovetti names the finest operatic achievements of the past decade.

Blogger Olivia Giovetti reviews the Met's new Don Giovanni, a production that features a potent pinch-hitter and tentatively reasserts that you cannot build a better mousetrap.

Kicking off a new series on Operavore about the warm-up habits of singers, blogger Olivia Giovetti catches Isabel Leonard mid-run at the Met in Il Barbiere di Siviglia to talk about sleep, stretching and Starbucks.

When times are tough, many opera companies play it safe. Blogger Fred Plotkin argues for the importance of diverse programming, particularly in light of the recent headlines about the Met's finances.

Blogger Olivia Giovetti interviews Frederica von Stade as the legendary mezzo prepares her send off to New Jersey on Friday.

Like him or not, Christopher Columbus is one of the foremost figures in world history and, as such, more complex than even opera can do justice to. Yet some have tried, writes blogger Fred Plotkin.

Operavore blogger Olivia Giovetti attends the world premiere of the Five Borough Songbook and digests the 19 world premieres. There's a 20th that takes place in Flushing on November 12.

When an opera company takes a beloved old production and replaces it with something new and potentially controversial, audiences become alarmed. Blogger Fred Plotkin considers the keepers at the Met.

Operavore blogger Olivia Giovetti talks with Robert Sirota about the New York premiere Holy Women, offering a lexicon of the nine saints represented in his cantata.

American opera already has enough provocative subject matter to make Giuseppe Verdi green with envy. Read on for blogger Olivia Giovetti's picks for the most politically-charged American operas.

Even during these tough economic times, the Metropolitan Opera has been charging forth with ambitious projects in the belief that this energy and visibility will keep opera consequential. Blogger Fred Plotkin considers the costs versus benefits.

Murder... Vengeance... Religious Strife: Giuseppe Verdi had something for everyone. With Nabucco underway at the Metropolitan Opera, blogger Olivia Giovetti examines the political side of the composer.