American Idol

The most popular opera composer in the U.S. is Giacomo Puccini — a verdict that surprises most opera fans in Italy, where Giuseppe Verdi is revered as the greatest of the great. FRED PLOTKIN examines this curious cultural divide.

Giacomo Puccini's 150th birthday is coming up this December, so 2008 is his year. For many people in America who love opera, every year is Puccini's year. Some of his works, notably La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Turandot, are so ubiquitous in U.S. theaters that they practically crowd out other works. Puccini melodies seep into films such as Moonstruck and A Room With a View and form the soundtrack for the American infatuation with everything Tuscan. Leia mais aqui

l Barbiere di Siviglia

(The Barber of Seville)

Approximate running time 3 hrs. 10 min.

Bartlett Sher’s sold-out hit production of The Barber of Seville returns. “The new ‘Barbiere’ is fast, funny, well-sung—even sexy,” said the Associated Press last season. Sher’s production breaks the barrier between the stage and the audience, bringing the singers closer to the audience than ever before. Mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča makes her highly anticipated Met debut as Rosina.

War and Peace

Approximate running time 4 hrs. 15 min.

Prokofiev’s adaptation of Tolstoy’s novel captures its sweeping worldview as well as its insights into individuals. The resources required for this opera (65 solo roles, a depiction of the largest land battle in European history, and the magnificence of Imperial balls in Czarist Russia) makes this one of the biggest productions in Met history. For the first five performances, dynamic Russian maestro Valery Gergiev marshals the musical forces of a cast that includes many leading Russian singers. The three remaining performances are conducted by Gianandrea Noseda.

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Video - An Epic at the Met

From Young Players, Mozart and a Spirit of Renewal

Julien Jourdes for The New York Times

Jaime Laredo conducting the New York String Orchestra. The students, ages 15 to 22, are participating in a 10-day seminar.

By ALLAN KOZINN

Published: December 26, 2007

The annual Christmas Eve performance at Carnegie Hall by the New York String Orchestra has become as much a holiday tradition for New Yorkers as the “Messiah” performances and festive choral concerts that fill halls throughout December, even though its programs make no reference whatever to the seasonal repertory.

The attraction is in the spirit of renewal that has consistently animated these performances by this ensemble of students, from 15 to 22, who have come to New York from all over the United States and Canada to participate in the 10-day New York String Orchestra seminar. This year the orchestra includes 62 players, and as in past seasons its roster is more expansive than its name suggests, with woodwinds, brass and percussion augmenting the strings.

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