It's bad enough that opera director Luc Bondy had to face a chorus of boos from Met opera audiences for daring to do something innovative with Puccini's Tosca—now big shot Italian director Franco Zeffirelli has to pile on. Never mind that Zeffirelli hasn't actually seen the production; it's still "a crime" which opera fans were right to boo like peanut-munchers at a state fair. more ›

The teenage son of a Metropolitan Opera singer was fatally stabbed a few blocks from Elmhurst Hospital in Queens on Monday night during a confrontation with a gang of ten thugs believed to part of the Latin Kings gang. Nicholas Donaldi-Subero, 18, had gone to Queens from his mother's Upper East Side apartment to pick up his date; around 6 p.m.—about a block away from the 82nd Street-Jackson Heights 7 station—he was approached by the teen gang, who believed him responsible for a recent stabbing of one of their own. Donaldi-Subero's family deny it, but police say he was a member of rival gang, ABK, Always Banging Kings, and he was arrested three times in the past six months. His mother, alto Maria Donaldi, tells the Daily News, "he was the sweetest kid. I don't know about gang affiliation. Kids can be sneaky, but I'm the last to know." more ›

According to the NY Times, the Metropolitan Opera decided to restage Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde to bring leading "acclaimed Wagnerian" tenor Ben Heppner and soprano Deborah Voigt together for the first time in a staged production. And for those of you who haven't been able to buy tickets, you can see them in tonight's final performance because it will stream live from the Met's website. (Here's a link that will launch the Met's RealPlayer stream.) more ›