An opera singer who realized her conservative values were incompatible with a career in the liberal arts found her true calling as a wife and mother. She explains how taking on a traditional gender role has led to feeling happy, fulfilled, and empowered as a woman. Currently pregnant with her second child, content creator Abby…

A German-born opera singer is spreading his love for classical music with the masses by bursting into song from his table to the surprise of all guests while dining in different restaurants with his manager. Ricardo Marinello, 34, was born and raised in Düsseldorf, Germany, by a Sicilian father and a German mother. He was…

Australia’s largest performing arts organisation has posted another loss as it struggles with hesitant audiences and cost blowouts. Opera Australia recorded an operating loss of $447,878 (US$298,018) for the 2022 financial year, an improvement on the record $22.6 million loss it notched up for 2020/21 when the pandemic forced it to cancel most performances. The…

NEW YORK—The final curtain came down Sunday on New York’s production of “The Phantom of the Opera,” ending Broadway’s longest-running show with thunderous standing ovations, champagne toasts, and gold and silver confetti bursting from its famous chandelier. It was show No. 13,981 at the Majestic Theatre and it ended with a reprise of “The Music…

Commentary A saloon in an 1850s California gold mining town called Cloudy sounds like a great setting for an old Western, maybe starring John Wayne. It certainly doesn’t sound like the setting for an Italian grand opera by Puccini. Nevertheless, this is the setting for Giacomo Puccini’s 1910 opera “La Fanciulla del West,” which means…

You don’t need to be a full-fledged devotee of the arts to enjoy an opera, with many communities offering performances geared toward the entire family. For those new to the opera, here are a few etiquette tips. Budget-Friendly Tickets Afternoon matinees are a great way to enjoy an opera when an evening performance isn’t convenient…

Commentary From October through December, department stores, television, merchandise, and popular tunes remind us that “it’s the most wonderful time of the year!” Disagreeing with the jollity is a sure-fire way to declare yourself a modern-day Scrooge, but the secular commercialism can become cloying to those who are sensitive to Christmas’s Christian significance. Even families…

MILAN—Climate-change activists in Italy on Wednesday threw paint at the entrance of Milan’s famed La Scala opera house ahead of the opening performance of the season, local police said. Activists have staged high-profile protests across Europe in recent months, sometimes targeting museums and art works. The Ultima Generazione (Last Generation) movement said in a statement…

Commentary You don’t have to be an opera lover to know of “Carmen.” Written by Georges Bizet, this 1875 French opera is one of the most famous of all time. However, the story of “Carmen” did not begin with the opera. It comes from an 1845 French novella by Prosper Mérimée. The opera took the…

Commentary When you think of “Frankenstein,” does opera come to mind? Mary Shelley’s classic novel about a scientist who tries to create life by unnatural means, but ends up creating a monster, is hardly the most musical horror story. However, Los Angeles Opera chose it as the basis of its Off Grand Halloween performance this…