Soprano Angela Gheorghiu’s announcement last week that she and her husband, tenor Roberto Alagna, are getting a divorce surprised few in the opera world.

"While not everything works ideally in any opera company, the Royal Opera has been on a roll," Fred Plotkin reports. But what does the future hold at a time when the company's chief executive is leaving?

The Met's first-ever staging of Donizetti's Maria Stuarda opened on New Year's Eve, with Joyce DiDonato as the doomed Mary, Queen of Scots. "Against many odds, the opera actually meant something," writes David Patrick Stearns.

One of its arias became the the most memorable scene in the 1993 film Philadelphia. But far too many opera lovers aren't familiar with Umberto Giordano’s verismo gem, writes Fred Plotkin.

Opera is at its most steamy when passion trumps reason. In this edition of Opera in Brief, we consider three of opera’s sexiest librettos.

This glorious city, capital of the nation that gave birth to opera, has long been considered second-tier musically when compared to Milan, Venice and Naples. All of a sudden, though, that has changed.

Launch WQXR's Operavore stream this holiday season and you can enjoy an hour of Christmas and holiday pieces sung by opera stars like Marilyn Horne, Bryn Terfel, Joan Sutherland and more.

Procrastinating holiday shoppers with a taste for grandeur take note: New York City Opera began selling off its old sets this week. View a slideshow of a few highlights.

In this edition of Opera in Brief, we explore three operatic portraits of every day life in the mid 19th century, by Britten, Smetana and Delius.

Life imitates art at La Scala, writes Fred Plotkin. "Lohengrin tells the story of a besieged nation whose leadership is fragile and whose freedom is imperiled."

Myra Huang, a pianist who frequently works with opera singers, has been named the head of music at New York City Opera, a part time position.

Blogger Marion Lignana Rosenberg lists the top five performances of 2012, plus five of the best opera recordings. And yes, there’s a lump of coal for those who served up duds.

Mimì and Rodolfo face many adversities in La Bohème – a drafty garret, a creepy landlord, tuberculosis. But all are mere annoyances compared to the L train at rush hour.

When a great operatic chorus is sung by a gifted group of singers, the choristers often play a starring role. Sometimes they even steal the show.

A London-based organization called the Opera Awards Foundation announced plans last month for an annual awards gala. Operavore blogger Fred Plotkin considers potential recipients.

Russian opera diva Galina Vishnevskaya, who conquered audiences all over the world with her rich soprano, has died. Vishenvskaya, widow of famed cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, was 86.

"This Art Deco theater is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful places in Paris to attend a performance," writes Fred Plotkin. And it is a good thing that it was not destroyed during a famous 1913 riot.

In anticipation of a new film version of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables starring Hugh Jackman, we explore three operatic settings of the French writer's novels.

Most of the works of the great bel canto composers — Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti — are seldom performed because few singers are ever up to the task, writes Fred Plotkin. But one such rarity arrives in New York Wednesday night.