Guardian Music — McVicar has made himself the go-to director for opera houses wanting to renew their stagings of core worksThink of Verdi's grandest of grand operas Aida and you probably think of pyramids, palm trees, art deco headdresses and maybe even a few elephan... more info

Guardian Music — Philip Langridge, who has died aged 70, was heir to a distinctive native traditionGreat tenor voices are stereotypically Italian, Spanish, sometimes German, even Welsh. But the untimely death of Philip Langridge at 70 at the weekend should remind us ... more info

Guardian Music — Trading Tuscany for Texas, Jonathan Miller's drive-thru Donizetti works a treat, writes Fiona MaddocksPicasso's stage inventions were memorable but as he himself said, it's best to keep things vague. He was not one to get cornered by a concept. Often... more info

Guardian Music — Royal Hall, LondonConcerts of operatic highlights given by star performers are regularly a ­ragbag, but more planning than usual had gone into this gala ­featuring ­Russian stars Anna Netrebko and Dmitri ­Hvorostovsky, and a good deal mor... more info

All About Jazz — Sandra Warfield, an American mezzo-soprano who performed frequently with the Metropolitan Opera in the 1950s, 60s and early 70s, died on Monday in Manhattan. She was 88 and lived on the Upper East Side. Ms. Warfield made her Met debut in 1953, sin... more info