Opera

For the 150th anniversary of the first complete Ring festival in Bayreuth, we’re taking a look at some of the most memorable reactions, reviews and anecdotes surrounding those early performances. From astonished first impressions to sharp-tongued criticism, from logistical headaches to the unpredictable realities of live theater, these stories remind us that even the grandest artistic visions don’t always go according to plan.

Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen was first performed in its entirety at Bayreuth in 1876. It remains a powerful and influential work 150 years later, with Wagner’s vision continuing to inspire artists, audiences, and opera companies—including Seattle Opera and Tacoma Opera in the Pacific Northwest.

The holiday season has always been popular for introducing new works, including many perennial favorites. In Italy, the day after Christmas became especially meaningful to composers and impresarios.

Opera Philadelphia has, of course, spent the last year unable to stage live works in theaters. In response, they started creating original works written for the camera, to be shared and viewed online as part of an ongoing effort to bring a wider range of voices into the repertory.

The celebrated soprano died suddenly a year ago, leaving her fans, including one NPR producer, in grief, but with many fond memories.

Opera fans will have to wait another whole year for live performances at the famed New York house. In a press release Wednesday, the Metropolitan Opera says it plans to reopen on Sept. 27, 2021.

They point to a real estate deal that could drain two-thirds of the American Guild of Musical Artists' financial reserves and a secretive, failed deal with disgraced opera star Plácido Domingo.

While a valiant endeavor, the Metropolitan Opera's new series of steaming concerts can't seem to shake off opera's fusty, aristocratic traditions.

As Spain lifts its national state of emergency, the Liceu opera house in Barcelona finds alternative living things to fill nearly 2,300 seats.

The Central Park Five is an operatic narrative retelling the true story about the five African-American and Latino teenagers wrongly convicted of raping and assaulting a white woman in 1989.