One way of viewing Mozart’s operatic masterpiece The Marriage of Figaro is as a landmark embodying the final glories of 18th-century classicism—a gleaming summation of “ancient regime” European aristocracy. Set on the

 Always enterprising in its efforts to offer new and varied productions, the Florentine Opera, having won Grammy awards for its world premiere recording of Rio de Sangre and its brilliant CD of Elmer Gantry, offers another departure from standard operatic fare with Benjamin Britten’s

Milwaukee Ballet Artistic Director Michael Pink has often said that the company's winter and spring programs of contemporary one-act ballets are designed to provide the dancers with exciting challenges. Freed to be themselves...

Idomeneo was Mozart's first truly great opera, its orchestration being one of its glories. The composer's frequent use of the chorus and extensive ballet displays a French style...

Here’s another sign that this summer is coming to a close faster than you think: Alterra Coffee Roasters and the Florentine Opera Company are wrapping up their popular “Florentine on the Lake” concert series tonight with one final performance of arias at Alterra’s lakefront location at 7 p.m. It’s a stark reminder that you’d . . .

In addition to Jazz in the Park, another summer tradition also kicks off its season today, as the Alterra coffee shop near the lake again hosts performances from the Florentine Opera for its “Florentine at the Lake” series, which starts a 7 p.m. Let the company’s chorus members serenade you with stunning arias as . . .

Countless plays, operas and movies have been based on the works of the great Bard of Avon, William Shakespeare (1564-1616), varying from word-for-word adaptations to loose borrowing of plot or characters. Among those who owe a debt to Shakespeare is Italian opera composer Vincenzo Bellini (1801-35), whose I Capuleti e I Montecchi (The Capulets and Montagues) is based on the Bard’s immortal tale of love and death, Romeo and Juliet (1595), albeit several times removed. The libretto by Felice Romani that Bellini used was a reworking of Shakespeare’s legendary tale as first intended for use as Giulietta e Romeo by the composer Nicola Vaccai; and in doing so, Romani drew upon the 1818 play Giulietta e Romeo by Luigi Scevola!