6 Hours, 12 Countries, 250 Performers: ‘The Lunar Opera’ Gets the Virtual Treatment

A marathon 6-hour performance will be held in an unexpected (but increasingly familiar) place: Zoom! The video conferencing platform will provide the proscenium for a performance of Pauline Oliveros’ postmodern masterpiece ‘The Lunar Opera.’

Beethoven Said It First: ‘Oh what joy, in the open air!’

Getting through winter in Chicago is tough enough, but when it’s immediately followed by a global pandemic and social distancing, it’s a real double-whammy. We’re reminded of the Prisoners’ Chorus from Beethoven’s ‘Fidelio.’

Discover Illinois’ Newest Opera Company — Opera Edwardsville

A four-hour drive southwest from Chicago and just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis sits Edwardsville, Illinois. The small city — founder Chase Hopkins’ hometown — is the site of the state’s newest opera company.

Plácido Domingo has coronavirus amid Spain outbreak

The opera star said in a post on his personal Facebook account Sunday that “I feel it is my moral duty to announce to you that I have tested positive for COVID19.”

Verdi’s Got Game: Rigoletto’s Got All the Right Moves

Could this ‘Rigoletto’-inspired video game be help bring kids into opera?

Show goes on: DiDonato, Beczala sing opera from apartment

From DiDonato’s New York City living room, the pair performed excerpts of Massenet’s ‘Werther’ for nearly 90 minutes that were streamed live on DiDonato’s Facebook and Instagram pages.

9 Works by Women Writers We Want to See Adapted into Operas

We’re glad to see that in recent decades, more and more works by women writers have been given their due in the opera house. Here’s a look back at some of them, and a short list of works by women that we’re waiting to see operatically staged.

AP: US opera union probe finds Plácido Domingo abused power

People familiar with the findings have said that an investigation found more than two dozen people who said they were sexually harassed or witnessed inappropriate behavior by Domingo over two decades

Drawing Hope and Courage from Opera: Dan Shore’s ‘Freedom Ride’

With a story that highlights how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go, Chicago Opera Theater presents the world premiere of Dan Shore’s Freedom Ride, which centers on a pivotal moment in the civil rights struggle.

Is This the Real Life? Opera Artists on Singing ‘Verismo’ With Muti & CSO

Rather than depicting nobility or mythology, ‘verismo’ opera tells stories of everyday people, and ‘Cavalleria rusticana’ by Pietro Mascagni is a premiere example of the genre.

Drinking, Dueling, and a Dragon? Huzzah!

It’s Baroque opera, minus the sobriety. The serious operas of Handel and Gluck get the parody treatment in this excerpt from the 1737 opera The Dragon of Wantley performed by Haymarket Opera Company!

Britten the Composer, Pacifist, Remembered by the Star of His Antiwar Opera, ‘Owen Wingrave’

A lifelong pacifist, Britten used his music to advocate for peace. Baritone Benjamin Luxon, who created the title role of the composer’s pacifist opera Owen Wingrave, reflects on Britten’s legacy of music and pacifism.

Sondra Radvanovsky on the Acrobatic Bel Canto, Spectacular Couture of ‘The Three Queens’

Soprano Sondra Radvanovsky’s renowned vocal prowess is on impressive display at Lyric Opera of Chicago in The Three Queens. Also on display are three stunning gowns by designer Rubin Singer, who’s designed for stars like Beyoncé and Renée Fleming.

Opera Explores the Brink of Humanity: ‘Dog Days’ Gets Chicago-Area Premiere

“It has been said that a society can be judged by the way it treats its animals,” composer David T. Little says in the program notes for his chamber opera, Dog Days. Based on a short story by Judy Budnitz, the opera is set in a war-torn future that’s not too far away from our own time.

Video: Ahead of Its Chicago Premiere, Hear an Excerpt From Rachmaninoff’s ‘Aleko’

Two operatic opus ones will have their Chicago premieres this weekend, and they both command a chorus of well over 100. Chicago Opera Theater opens its 2019-20 season with a double bill: Joby Talbot’s Everest and Rachmaninoff’s Aleko.

An Operatic Oasis in the English Countryside — Journey to the Glyndebourne Festival 

It’s not easy to get to Glyndebourne, and that’s the point. “We’re forcing people to slow down their busy lives,” says Gus Christie, the opera festival’s executive chairman, “and to come in and soak it all up.” Discover the multi-sensory experience – the aromas of the gardens, the taste of champagne bubbles, the sounds from the stage – that is Glyndebourne.

Opera Is a “Contact Sport” in the Lost 1963 Documentary ‘In the Mouth of the Wolf’

Audiences will be irate this weekend at the Siskel Center. No, not the people in the theater, but the onscreen audiences portrayed in In the Mouth of the Wolf. The made-for-TV documentary depicts the infamously fanatical opera culture of Parma, Italy through the lens of a troubled production of Verdi’s Luisa Miller.

Playlist: What Makes a Verdi Baritone? Sherrill Milnes and Quinn Kelsey Explain

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.

Marcello Giordani, tenor of beauty and heft, dies at 56

Giordani had a heart attack at his home in Sicily.

Domingo withdraws from Met Opera after harassment reports

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

‘No path is easy’: Black opera singers detail struggles

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.

6 Classical Music and Wine Pairings That Are Sure To Soothe Your Soul

Wine and music pair together in perfect harmony. Check out these 6 pairings from maestro and wine ambassador Enrique Mazzola.

LA Opera names lawyer to lead Plácido Domingo investigation

Los Angeles Opera said Tuesday it will immediately open a “thorough and independent investigation” into allegations of sexual harassment against the opera star Plácido Domingo, the company’s general director.

Playlist: 5 Salieri Operas You Should Know

Regardless of his relationship to Mozart, Salieri was a successful composer in his own right, and we should not forget his music – particularly his operas!

Multiple women say opera star Domingo sexually harassed them

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.