Women give voice to a male canon. It happens to be ancient Greek. by Anne Midgette

Novels and translations help bring old texts to the modern world. Why is it so hard for other fields to follow suit?

'Marnie' is all too insubstantial at Met Opera premiere by Anne Midgette

The co-commissioned work trowels on cliche to stifle considerable talent.

Art by heart: 'Hamilton' is opera for our time by Anne Midgette

The exhilarating, immersive and addictive experience of Lin-Manuel Miranda's groundbreaking musical.

Disgraced Levine: Met Opera delivers coup de grace by Anne Midgette

The Metropolitan Opera fires its longtime music director after an internal investigation backed up allegations of sexual abuse.

The trouble with opera by Anne Midgette

Diversity is a major problem, yes. But so is the whole way opera companies go about presenting new work.

Talking to myself: two ways of looking at Carrie Mae Weems's new work by Anne Midgette

After seeing "Grace Notes" at the Kennedy Center, a critic's inner dialogue.

The real motor of the performing arts isn't vision. It's the board, stupid. by Anne Midgette

There's the authority to which the head of an arts organization must actually answer. It isn't the critics; it isn't the audience: it's the board.

Royal Opera's 'Anna Nicole' misses the inner beauty by Anne Midgette

A grand display by Anne Midgette

The arts are an essential part of society. The arts are what a society is remembered by. Those were the leitmotifs, sounded again and again, of the Kennedy Center's Thursday-night gala conce…

The culture boom performing arts continued on E4 by Anne Midgette

It's 7:30 on a November night in Manassas, and the ticket line is snaking around the foyer of the brand-new Hylton Performing Arts Center and nearly to the door. The box office isn't accusto…

They are 'the forgotten musicians' by Anne Midgette

Chee-Yun is a Korean-born violinist who has won an Avery Fisher career grant, has played with the world's leading orchestras and gave a solo recital at the Kennedy Center in October. This we…

Splendor in the grass: Around D.C., plenty of opportunities for summer classical music by Anne Midgette

Blankets spread on the lawn; warm brie and warm wine and a flickering candle dripping wax on the grass; the sound of crickets chirping gentlyin the background; an illuminated stage in the di…

Music review: Eighth Blackbird at Kennedy Center by Anne Midgette

Music that's a century old really shouldn't seem terrifyingly contemporary to audiences today. At the same time, all music should sound fresh when it's performed. The ensemble Eighth Blackbi…

Pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin played an intimate and engaging concert by Anne Midgette

Virtuoso pianists tend to be divided into two groups: those of supreme technical ability and those with a profound aptitude for expression. These two groups are often treated as if they were…

Serviceable 'Tosca' signals business as usual at Washington National Opera by Anne Midgette

When Puccini's "Tosca" was scheduled for the start of the 2011-12 season, the Washington National Opera didn't know that the work would mark the start of the company's new incarnation as a p…