Hello, cruel world

With its mismatched couples and absurd plot, Cosi Fan Tutte is thought of as Mozart’s ‘frivolous’ opera.

Andrew Clark: All the worldís his stage

The scene is an urban wasteland at night. A young man is having sex with a woman in the back of a car while his sidekick keeps watch. An older man appears, hell-bent on attacking his daughterís seducer.

Alex Ross on Adriana Mater

A new opera from the Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho.

The Guardian on Helen of Troy and Opera

She’ll always have Paris

Sexual icon, dark temptress or a smutty comedienne? Helen of Troy has fascinated writers and composers for centuries.

Rosie Millard on the price of tickets at Covent Garden

The Royal Opera House is publicly funded – so why does it charge more than £100 per seat, asks Rosie Millard

Young Man in a Hurry ó Iestyn Davies

I met with Iestyn Davies at 1330 hours precisely, on the steps of the Hippodrome theatre, Bristol, England, where he was singing the role of Hamor in Welsh National Operaís riveting production of Handelís ìJephthaî.

ALEX ROSS: SONGS OF EXPERIENCE

Ian Bostridge sings Benjamin Britten.

Snip judgment

Rupert Christiansen laments the lost art of the castrato

Fabulous Mister Fat Belly

He’s a terrible old rogue – but to opera composers, he’s irresistible. Tim Ashley on the deathless appeal of Falstaff

LA Times: A sense of adventure lost. And found.

Conservatism is once more on the rise in the orchestral world but the starchy old Met, under new boss Peter Gelb, is trying to buck the trend.