LOS ANGELES—Mozart’s Don Giovanni owes a lot of its durability to its ambiguity. Everyone has a different take on it. Just the description of it as a dramma giocoso invites a vast interpretive range. Take, for instance, the startling … » Read

On the heels of a $100 million renovation to fix a host of problems that had long plagued the iconic venue, the Sydney Opera House is celebrating its 50 th anniversary with a range of special offerings. Among them is the publication of … » Read

LONDON—Whether it was an appearance by rising-star Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho, or just the relative ease of getting to and from London’s Royal Festival Hall for a three o’clock Sunday afternoon event, this September 24 … » Read

T-shirts have taken center stage in the contract negotiations between the New York City Ballet (NYCB) and its orchestra members, whose contract expired in August. The musicians voted on Sept. 19 to wear short-sleeved black t-shirts with … » Read

PHILADELPHIA—In the 1880s, reporter Nellie Bly feigned madness in order to infiltrate the Women’s Lunatic Asylum in New York City. She chronicled its brutal conditions in a series of first-person articles in the New York World , and … » Read

On Sept. 22, Alejandro Meerapfel suffered a fatal heart attack and died on stage while performing at the Ambronay Early Music Festival in France. The 54-year-old Argentinian baritone was singing the role of God the Father in Antonio … » Read

The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) has announced the creation of UNCSA Media, a label that will release two or three recordings of creative projects by faculty and alumni across the school’s five arts … » Read

Aidan Lang has announced his retirement as general director of the Welsh National Opera (WNO) at the end of this year. Perhaps spurred on by Arts Council England’s cuts to the WNO   and its touring program, Lang will be exiting after … » Read

BERLIN (AP) — Christian Thielemann has been chosen as the new general music director of Berlin’s Staatsoper, months after Daniel Barenboim ended his three-decade reign , the city government said Wednesday. The 64-year-old German … » Read

For those who have long bewailed the Metropolitan Opera’s neglect of new work, the current season, which opened last night with Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking , is a dream come true. It includes six works that premiered between 1986 … » Read