Fred Plotkin

With this being the Strauss anniversary year, blogger Fred Plotkin tracked down some of the composer's haunts in Munich, and got access to his villa in nearby Garmisch.

Operavore blogger Fred Plotkin explains why he thinks the best opera festival in the world is at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich.

Operavore blogger Fred Plotkin writes about Wagner's influences on Bayreuth.

After a rocky opening, the Bayreuth Festival is proving its mettle as a place where thought-provoking stagings of Wagner take place. Fred Plotkin reports.

With German political leaders as well as regular opera fans watching nervously, the opening night of the Bayreuth Festival was disrupted by an hour-long technical breakdown.

Operavore blogger Fred Plotkin explores the world of Kabuki and modern Japanese operas.

Blogger Fred Plotkin offers part two of his guide to opera in New York City, for listeners who are into great voices, rarities and edgy work.

Operavore's Fred Plotkin considers the many categories of potential opera ticket buyers and suggests performances this coming season in New York that might pique their interest.

The almost untranslatable Italian word estro means a sudden inspiration, touched with genius, to create something extraordinary where it was unimaginable before. Here's where it applies to musicians.

Leonardo da Vinci had many musical interests, as a theorist and a designer of instruments, writes Fred Plotkin. The Renaissance man is now the subject of an exhibition at the Ambrosian Library in Milan.

"The questions of sustainability, which is the central organizing concept of the way we must live now if we are to survive, should be examined in the context of the opera houses," writes Fred Plotkin.

"Opera companies the world over face challenges nowadays and there are those in Italy (Florence, Genoa and elsewhere) that are troubled. But there is good news too," writes Fred Plotkin.

Following last week's survey of gifted male opera singers under the age of 40 comes this look at promising young divas.

Fred Plotkin has selected 40 singers under 40 who he feels merit your attention and support. This article is about male singers; the next will introduce you to some future divas.

66-year-old Italian soprano Mariella Devia made a rare return to New York Thursday night at Carnegie Hall. Blogger Fred Plotkin reports on the scene.

Operavore blogger Fred Plotkin gives his take on how the Met can "stimulate ticket sales, rein in expenditures, build its endowment and get back on track."

"Somewhere along the way, the Metropolitan Opera House went from being a temple of art to becoming a facility," writes Fred Plotkin, in the third of a four-part post-season series on the Met.