MIKE SILVERMAN

This image released by Heartbeat Opera shows soprano Summer Hassan as Salome, right, and baritone Nathaniel Sullivan as John the Baptist, in a scene from Heartbeat Opera's production of Richard Strauss' "Salome" in The Space at Irondale in New York on Feb. 1, 2025. (Andrew Boyle/Heartbeat Opera via AP)
Scrappy opera company Heartbeat thrives by reimagining the classics
A scrappy opera company that started 11 years ago in New York City is thriving by staying small. Heartbeat Opera’s founders say they named the company for the idea that singers would be feet away from audience members.
 
Baritone Edward Parks, center, portrays Don Alfonso, the CEO of a tech company that is creating AI companions, in a scene from Yuval Sharon's production of Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte," at the Detroit Opera House. (Austin T. Richey/Detroit Opera via AP)
Detroit production of Mozart opera turns its female characters into automatons
Audiences at the Detroit Opera House expecting their performance of “Cosi fan tutte” to begin with the overture may be surprised to hear instead a product launch from a tech company CEO.
 
Soprano Lise Davidsen performs as Leonore, during a dress rehearsal of Beethoven's "Fidelio," at New York's Metropolitan Opera, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen to release new opera recording while awaiting birth of twins
Lise Davidsen, one of opera’s biggest names, is preparing to leave the stage for a few months to give birth and spend time with twins.
 
This image released by the Metropolitan Opera shows a scene from a rehearsal of the opera "Moby-Dick" at the Metropolitan Opera on Feb. 20, 2025 in New York. (Karen Almond/Met Opera via AP)
An opera based on Melville’s masterpiece, ‘Moby-Dick,’ docks at the Met
The Metropolitan Opera is staging a production of Herman Melville’s masterpiece about a white whale, ‘Moby-Dick.’ The libretto was written by Gene Scheer, who had to whittle down the novel of more than 600 pages.
 
Baritone Quinn Kelsey, left, performs with soprano Angel Blue in a rehearsal for a new production of Verdi's "Aida," opening at the Metropolitan Opera on New Year's Eve. (Ken Howard/Met Opera via AP)
Soprano Angel Blue sings her first Metropolitan Opera ‘Aida’ in a new production
Angel Blue, one of the most admired singers of her generation, is headlining the Metropolitan Opera’s first new production of Verdi’s “Aida” in 36 years.
 
This image released by the Indiana University shows, from left, Jonathan Elmore, Evan Tiapula, and Cody Home during a rehearsal of “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay,” at the Jacobs School of Music on the Indiana University campus in Bloomington, Ind., on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Sarah J. Slover/Indiana University via AP)
Mason Bates’ Met-bound opera ‘Kavalier & Clay’ based on Michael Chabon novel premieres in Indiana
 
This image released by the Washington National Opera shows Bass David Leigh as Rocco the jailer in a new production of Beethoven's "Fidelio," opening Oct. 25 at the Washington National Opera. (Mauricio Castro/Washington National Opera via AP)
Bass David Leigh finding that a successful opera career is no ‘impossible dream’
When David Leigh sang “The Impossible Dream” at his father’s funeral, the moment was both a testament to his past and a harbinger of his future.
 
This image released by The Metropolitan Opera shows a scene from Golijov's "Ainadamar," opening at the Metropolitan Opera on Oct. 15. (Marty Sohl/The Metropolitan Opera via AP)
Golijov’s Flamenco-tinged opera about slain Spanish playwright Lorca comes to the Met
The Metropolitan Opera is preparing to stage a Flamenco-infused production of an opera about Spanish author Federico Garcia Lorca.
 
This image released by the San Francisco Opera shows a rehearsal of Kaija Saariaho's opera "Innocence," on May 22, 2024. The opera is having its US premiere at the San Francisco Opera on June 1. (Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera via AP)
Opera about a school shooting’s aftermath has its US premiere in San Francisco
The aftermath of a school shooting is the subject of an opera, “Innocence,” that will get its U.S. premiere in San Francisco beginning June 1. “Innocent” is the last opera by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, who died of brain cancer last year.
 
This image released by the Washington National Opera shows a set rendering by Wilson Chin showing one of his designs for a new production of Giacomo Puccini's "Turandot" opening May 11 at the Washington National Opera. (Wilson Chin/Washington National Opera via AP)
Washington Opera offers new ending to Puccini’s final work
Ever since Giacomo Puccini died in 1924 without finishing his last opera, “Turandot,” audiences have thrilled to its soaring melodies like “Nessun Dorma,” but also perhaps lamented the lack of a proper ending.
 
In this image provided by the Met Opera, soprano Asmik Grigorian prepares for her Metropolitan Opera debut during a rehearsal for Puccini's "Madame Butterfly." (Jonathan Tichler/Met Opera via AP)
Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian makes belated Metropolitan Opera debut as Madame Butterfly
Opera singer Asmik Grigorian is at the peak of her career, but there’s one major opera venue she hasn’t yet performed at — New York’s Metropolitan Opera.
 
Julia Bullock, center, and castmates rehearse for the Metropolitan Opera's production of "El Nino," on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in New York. “El Nino” opens April 23. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
John Adams’ Nativity oratorio ‘El Nino’ gets colorful staging at the Met
Composer John Adams’ work is returning to the Metropolitan Opera for the first time in a decade in a new staging of his Nativity oratorio “El Nino.”
 
In this image provided by the Met Opera, Soprano Lise Davidsen as Leonora in a new production of Verdi's "La Forza del Destino" opening Feb. 26 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. (Karen Almond/Met Opera via AP)
Verdi’s opera ‘Forza del Destino’ gets its first new production at the Met in nearly 30 years
The Metropolitan Opera is staging its first new production of Verdi’s opera “La Forza del Destino” in nearly 30 years.
 
In this undated photo provided by the Met Opera, tenor Piotr Beczala, left, as Don Jose, and mezzo Aigul Akhmetshina, as Carmen, rehearse for the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Bizet's "Carmen" opening on New Year's Eve, Dec. 31, 2023. (Ken Howard/Met Opera via AP)
Young Russian mezzo bids for breakout stardom in Met’s new ‘Carmen’
Aigul Akhmetshina says she’s a fighter — and she’s had to be to make it to the Metropolitan Opera, where she leads a new production of Bizet’s “Carmen” opening on New Year’s Eve.
 
This image released by the Washington National Opera shows a scene from "Grounded," an opera about a female fighter pilot who is reassigned to direct unmanned drone attacks on terrorists thousands of miles away. The opera is having its world premiere at the Washington National Opera. (Scott Suchman/Washington National Opera via AP)
‘Grounded,’ a new opera about a female fighter pilot turned drone operator, prepares to take off
Nearly 10 years after it was first imagined as an opera, “Grounded” is ready to take flight. With music by Jeanine Tesori and a libretto adapted by George Brant from his own play, “Grounded” tells the story of an F-16 fighter pilot who becomes pregnant and leaves the service.
 
This image released by the Metropolitan Opera shows Ryan McKinny as Joseph De Rocher, left, and Joyce DiDonato as Sister Helen Prejean in Jake Heggie's "Dead Man Walking," which opens the Metropolitan Opera season on Sept. 26. (Karen Almond/Met Opera via AP)
In break with the past, Met opera is devoting a third of its productions to recent work
The Metropolitan Opera is broadening its repertoire this season by performing more recent operas alongside classics like “La Boheme.”
 
Soprano Lise Davidsen performs as Elisabeth of Valois in Verdi's "Don Carlo" at London's Royal Opera House on June 26, 2023. (Bill Cooper/The Royal Opera via AP)
Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen taking on new challenges on two continents
Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen is embarking on her most ambitious season yet. Several firsts await, including her debut at Carnegie Hall and performances of three roles she’s never sung in staged productions.
 
This image released by the Santa Fe Opera shows British tenor Freddie de Tommaso as Mario Cavaradossi in Puccini's "Tosca'' at the Santa Fe Opera on Aug. 12, 2023. (Curtis Brown/Santa Fe Opera via AP)
Tenor Freddie De Tommaso, a young British sensation, makes US opera debut
Tenor Freddie De Tommaso, who at 28 became an overnight sensation nearly two years ago after stepping in for a star who had taken ill, is so in demand that he sometimes has to turn down roles.
 
Met opera gets visionary new “Dutchman”
The French-Canadian director Francois Girard created a literal splash at the Metropolitan Opera seven years ago when he flooded the stage with fake blood for a scene in ``Parsifal.’' Now he’s back at the Met for another Wagner opera.
 
‘No path is easy': Black opera singers detail struggles
More than 60 years after Marian Anderson broke the color barrier at the Metropolitan Opera, black singers still face unique obstacles in building careers within the industry.
 
‘Let Me Die’ to premiere at Opera Philadelphia’s annual fest
 
Lise Davidsen triumphs in Bayreuth debut
With Bayreuth under her belt, soprano Lise Davidsen looks ahead to the Metropolitan Opera
 
Cecilia Bartoli talks, again, of US return
 
Mezzo J’Nai Bridges rising fast in opera world
Budding opera star J’Nai Bridges says she’s ready for “Carmen” now
 
Opera mezzo sees softer side of Dalila in ‘Samson et Dalila’
“The music becomes so innocent and pure and transparently light,” the Latvian mezzo-soprano said in an interview. “She really expresses how wonderful it would be if there were no religion, no power, no struggles, so they could just be two people who connect together.”
 
Stephanie Blythe stars in Met production of ‘Cendrillon’
 
Tenor Kaufmann goes it alone in Mahler’s ‘Lied von der Erde’
 
Justice Ginsburg trades robes for opera costume
Cheers and prolonged applause rang out at the Kennedy Center on Saturday night when the curtain rose for Act 2 of “The Daughter of the Regiment.”
 
Critics pick favorites at upcoming Met Opera season
Tristan, Tell and L’Amour top critics’ hopes for upcoming Metropolitan Opera season.
 
Critics look ahead to Met season
NEW YORK (AP) — The Associated Press asked two dozen classical music critics to pick the production or performer they most looked forward to seeing in the new Metropolitan Opera season.