The artist Robert Motherwell was a bridge between continents: at once a spokesman for the New York School and a conduit for the theories of European modernists. And yet there had not been a retrospective of his work in Europe since 1998; in Austria, the last major Motherwell exhibit took place in the 1970s. That changed with “Robert Motherwell — Pure Painting,” a retrospective at the Kunstforum in Vienna.

Bohuslav Martinu’s final opera, “The Greek Passion,” explores a story that was as explosive in the mid-twentieth century as it is today. When a group of refugees seeks protection in the village of Lycovrissi, the community is thrown into upheaval: Will the villagers reaffirm their Christian virtues or indulge in acts of selfishness? The opera had personal resonance for Martinu, who was perpetually homesick in his last years.

La Scala’s audience can now be anywhere. The opera house in Milan began sharing select performances online through LaScalaTv. The first live offering was a broadcast of Verdi’s opera “I Vespri siciliani,” conducted by Fabio Luisi. The platform is part of a wider effort to modernize La Scala’s infrastructure, including an extensive educational outreach program using the technology and plans for subtitles on seat backs.

What main thing defines the Royal Opera House activities for Jakub Hrusa? “Quality.” “It’s the quality of human relationships and sensitivity to the genre so that it can be done really well,” he said. “There is an environment which is cultivating, not killing, creativity and the individual voice.” In interview, Mr. Hrusa discussed his anticipation about becoming music director and some of his repertoire choices, including Czech music.

Ambroise Thomas’s “Hamlet” had all the elements to become a blockbuster at the Paris Opera in the 19th century. Like so many “grands opéras” that were born and bred for the company, “Hamlet” fell out of repertoire around the turn of the 20th century. For the first time since 1938, the Shakespearean adaptation returns to Paris Opera in a new production directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski and starring Ludovic Tézier.

When armed forces stormed the State Opera here during a performance of Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” on March 11, 1938, prominent players from the Vienna Philharmonic fled through the back door and would never regain their positions. More than 80 years later, the orchestra’s chairman, Daniel Froschauer, decided to commemorate the players who were victimized during World War II.

“La Gioconda,” by Amilcare Ponchielli, established the composer as a creator of operas on par with Verdi after its 1876 premiere at La Scala in Milan. Yet while individual numbers such as the “Dance of the Hours” and the aria “Cielo e mar” (“The Sky and the Sea”) have achieved lasting fame, the lyric drama in four acts only occasionally receives new productions.

In a feature for the New York Philharmonic, Rebecca interviewed the soprano Golda Schultz about performing Richard Strauss; growing up in South Africa; and more.

Riccardo Muti could conduct any orchestra of his choice. But when the pandemic decimated his last season as music director of the Chicago Symphony, he decided to continue commuting from Italy to the US Midwest for another two years, extending his contract until the summer of 2023.

When the pandemic upended its plans to tour European cathedrals playing symphonies by Anton Bruckner, the Vienna Philharmonic hit the reset button. With more time than ever at home, the orchestra immersed itself in recording the works under the conductor Christian Thielemann …

Is it possible to offer a “crash course” in opera, from performance etiquette to historical background? Rebecca explored some of these issues in her book review of Jasmin Solfaghari’s “Crashkurs Oper. Geschichte – Komponisten – Werke – Spielstätten.”

In the November 2021 issue of Opernwelt, Rebecca profiled Chien Wen-Pin, the executive and artistic director of Taiwan’s National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, or Weiwuying. The sprawling center with a capacity for over 5,000 people was able to put on fully staged operas while many theaters remained dark.

Rebecca occassionally covers topics in visual art, architecture and literature. In the summer of 2021, she accompanied a trekking concert from Florence to Ravenna, Italy on the “Cammino di Dante.”

For the pianist Evgeny Kissin, it was a love story that provided the inspiration to write his own music again. After being reunited with a childhood friend — now his wife — he woke up in the middle of the night and jotted down a “Meditation” that would become the first of his Four Piano Pieces Op. 1. […]