CHICAGO—Antonio Salieri may be the most famous classical composer whose music you’ve never heard. Chicago Opera Theater (COT) remedied that situation last week with the local premiere of Falstaff , Salieri’s lithe 1799 opera … » Read

The 1977 book The Faggots and their Friends Between Revolutions , a product of the early post-Stonewall years of gay liberation, offers a fey parable about gender roles and sexuality. Larry Mitchell’s text and Ned Asta’s … » Read

LONDON—The reign of Elizabeth I was as fertile a time for composers as it was for other artists in England. After all, as Mahan Esfahani points out, it was the same age and creative milieu—political, philosophical, and … » Read

CHICAGO-- The Perfect Tuba , the latest book by veteran journalist Sam Quinones, is the perfect book for those days when the weight of the world makes it hard to get out of bed. A few years ago, Quinones was feeling that weight. As a reporter for … » Read

The success of Fedora at the Metropolitan Opera two years ago with Sonya Yoncheva and Piotr Beczala made the prospect of another opera by Umberto Giordano with the same pairing a tempting one, and not just because of their star power. Fedora , … » Read

CHICAGO—Want to celebrate the 30 th anniversary of your top-selling alt-rock double album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness , and pump it up to operatic proportions? If you’re Billy Corgan, singer/songwriter and founder of one … » Read

CHICAGO—Few events in music history are as mythologized—and muddled—as the circumstances surrounding Mozart’s death and Requiem. Even two people in the room for his last breath don’t agree on an account. His … » Read

For anyone whose favorite instrument is the cello, Davies Symphony Hall was the place to be on November 16. The occasion was the world premiere of Gaïa , Greek for Goddess of the Earth, a program of 16 short pieces for solo cello and … » Read

PARIS—Behold the tale of a journey thwarted. The chief draw to this new staging of La Damnation de Faust at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (TCE), Paris, was the prospect of hearing Benjamin Bernheim sing a title … » Read

SAN FRANCISCO—Presented back to back, San Francisco Opera’s November 14 world premiere of The Monkey King , the new opera by Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang, and its first Parsifal in 25 years, which closed November 13,  revealed … » Read