There are baritones, and then there are Verdi baritones. They are the elite performers, athletes among baritones, thrilling their fans with blazing top notes and plumbing the depths of some of the most dramatically complex roles in opera.

Giordani had a heart attack at his home in Sicily.

The opera legend indicated that he would never again perform at the Met.

More than 60 years after Marian Anderson broke the color barrier at the Met, Black singers still face unique obstacles within the opera industry. “We’ve made some strides, but not a whole lot,” said Professor Naomi Andre.

“Mostly when you sing in the opera house you have this wall of sound in front of you and the only thing is to go and sing as loud as you can, and this is not making music,” she said. “It’s 80 against one, and you will never win.”

For decades, Plácido Domingo has tried to pressure women into sexual relationships by dangling jobs and then sometimes punishing the women professionally when they refused his advances, numerous accusers told The Associated Press.

Gelb said the season that ended Saturday saw 69 percent of box office revenue capacity realized, up from 67 percent in each of the previous two seasons and a low of 66 percent in 2015-16.

Another fantastic trip with Earthbound Expeditions and WFMT!

The 35-year-old made her Met debut in 2006 as a Woman of Crete in Mozart’s Idomeneo. She is scheduled to sing the title role next season in Massenet’s Manon and Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata.

Plácido Domingo has starred on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera for a whopping 50 years — and is still singing, amazingly, at age 78.

A New York judge on Tuesday dismissed portions of a lawsuit filed by former Metropolitan Opera music director James Levine against the company last year.

The Metropolitan Opera will hire an all-black outside chorus next season for its first presentation in nearly three decades of the Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess.

After portraying dozens of characters over a half-century on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House, Plácido Domingo got emotional being himself.

Few other star concert pianists can boast that they fought for — and helped win — their country’s independence.

NEW YORK (AP) — Ten years ago at age 27, Nico Muhly became the youngest composer ever to have a piece commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera. “It was completely terrifying,” Muhly said of the offer from Met general manager Peter Gelb to write “Two Boys” for America’s leading opera house. As with any commission he gets, he said, “It’s not …

NEW YORK (AP) — The Metropolitan Opera says it has reached labor agreements with two of its largest unions but has not said whether the deals will allow regular Sunday performances for the first time. Met spokesman Tim McKeough said Friday agreements were reached with the American Guild of Musical Artists, which represents principal singers, choristers and production personnel; and …

The company says “it would be inappropriate and impossible for Mr. Levine to continue to work at the Met.”

Enjoy an English-language performance of Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel with Tara Erraught (Hansel); Lisette Oropesa (Gretel); Dolora Zajick (Gertrude); Quinn Kelsey (Peter); Gerhard Siegel (Witch); Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra; Donald Runnicles (conductor).

A seemingly medieval castle overlooks the town of Meriden, Connecticut, where crystal waterfalls tumble down stony hillsides. This is where the great soprano Rosa Ponselle, whose voice has been described as one of the “most beautiful of the century,” was born.

If “Music oft hath such a charm / To make bad good, and good provoke to harm,” perhaps these 10 Shakespeare-inspired operas will charm you.

Soprano Nadine Sierra has won the 2017 Richard Tucker Award, dubbed the Heisman Trophy of opera.

In 2015, former President Barack Obama awarded Shirley with the National Medal of Arts.

James Levine, recently retired music director of the Metropolitan Opera, has been named conductor laureate of the Ravinia Festival.

Elise K. Kirk, emerita director of the White House Historical Society, highlights ten US presidents who changed music in America through the music they presented at the White House.

NEW YORK (AP) — The manager for Spanish director Calixto Bieito says the Metropolitan Opera’s decision to cancel his production of Verdi’s La forza del destino is “cruel and disappointing.” Met General Manager Peter Gelb said Friday he had dropped the staging from the company’s 2016-17 schedule to save about $1 million. The staging, a co-production with the English National …