Los Angeles finally has its first new “Falstaff” in decades. We’re not alone. Verdi’s last opera, for some of us the finest comic opera and finest Shakespearean opera of all, a marvel of transcendent ...

Reginald Smith, Jr. as the immortal Falstaff. Credit: Photo by Lynn Lane When Baritone Reginald Smith, Jr. sings the title role in Falstaff, the last opera ever composed by Giuseppe Verdi, and only ...

Who knows what impels a composer of 80 to come out of a six-year retirement and write one last opera. Maybe he's bored, wants to show he still has what it takes, needs to get back in the game one last ...

Reginald Smith. Jr. and Nicole Heaston in Falstaff at Houston Grand Opera. Credit: Photo by Lynn Lane If you want to know what walking on air sounds like, turn your attention to Giuseppe Verdi’s last ...

In Steppenwolf Theatre’s “Amadeus,” running through January, Antonio Salieri is the villain. That play and its 1984 film adaptation repeated fictions that have tarred the composer’s reputation for ...

After the darkness and death permeating Verdi’s “Il Trovatore,” which Seattle Opera presented a few weeks ago, there could hardly be a stronger or more salubrious contrast than the brilliance and ...

A sound rule of operatic thumb: A director may take all sorts of liberties with the time and place of a time-honored opera, provided he knows what he’s doing and can get away with it. Director Stephen ...

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results. Dame Quickly (Lynne ...