Fred Plotkin

Aretha Franklin, who will turn 70 on Sunday, "is as exciting, surprising and compelling as when I first heard her in 1967," reports Fred Plotkin, who heard the singer on February 18 at Radio City Music Hall.

Turin, or Torino, is the only city in Italy right now that rivals Milan when it comes to opera and symphonic music, writes Fred Plotkin. Its food, wine and feeling of sophistication make it worth a visit.

"The Irish are the best conversationalists I know," writes blogger Fred Plotkin. "They do not simply banter, but spin out words and phrases in whirling musical arcs that beguile the listener."

As this post was being written, nine young singers are preparing for one of the most important days of their careers. Read on to find out why.

South Africa has produced some extraordinary singers but it has yet generate a major homegrown opera. Fred Plotkin considers the potential of an opera "flavored with the cadences of Afrikaans, Zulu and Xhosa."

Te Kanawa, who turns 68 on Tuesday, is an example of a singer who knew how to pick roles that perfectly suited her, writes Operavore blogger Fred Plotkin.

"I don’t see the worlds of classical/opera and “pop”/Broadway as separated by a wall but as sitting on the same gorgeous field in different zones that sometimes overlap," writes ...

Even while absent from the conductor's podium, Music Director James Levine's presence is nonetheless still felt in The Metropolitan Opera's upcoming programs. Blogger Fred Plotkin shares his highlights.

Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho is composer-in-residence at Carnegie Hall this year. Her much-admired body of work includes the operas L’Amour de loin and Adriana Mater. Blogger Fred ...

Sipping a flavorful tea and enjoying an opera are mutually compatible activities, writes blogger Fred Plotkin. One composer has even written an opera on the subject.

One is a veteran artist who gets better all the time; the other is a young singer whose immense gifts and potential suggest he might achieve comparable things, writes Fred Plotkin.

Marco Armiliato will set a Metropolitan Opera record this week by leading six operas in six days, the highest number ever in a single week by one conductor. Blogger Fred Plotkin considers the feat.

The trailblazing African-American tenor George Shirley recently wrote an essay on race in opera that serves as a reminder of the opera field's past inequities and potential for progress, writes Fred Plotkin.

A scholarly book looks at the many depictions of people "of color" in opera, including the thorny stage practice in which performers apply heavy makeup to play leading roles such as...

Opera company managers must decide how to balance the wishes of audiences with the larger goal of moving the artform forward. Those two priorities are not always in sync, writes Fred Plotkin.

"When outstanding singers appear in unfamiliar works, many current operagoers won’t buy tickets," observes Fred Plotkin. "This is a serious problem."

Today is the 256th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. But who remembers his sister, Nannerl, who was an aspiring musician who lived in her brother's shadow?

It is one thing to be a famous, historical figure and quite another to be that person's relative. Inevitably, their own destinies are affected by their association with their famous relations.

He is a composer who had no notable success until he was well into his forties, one who is largely forgotten as the 150th anniversary of his birth approaches. But don't let th...

Many producers believe they have to give an opera a spin or a concept to make it “relevant.” That's what makes The Enchanted Island so different, writes blogger Fred Plotkin.