"Verdi With Popcorn, and Trepidation" by Daniel J. Wakin, The New York Times, 13. Feb 2009

FOR 400 years humans have stood on stages and conveyed passion through song. Great buildings were raised for them to perform in. The titled and the rich paid homage with cash and devotion.

Opera, that most electrifying and moving of the high arts, has remained remarkably unchanged in its history, adapting to bigger houses, electric lights, electronic stage machinery, the recording industry. It has persevered despite accelerating waves of new claims on our attention, from television to Twitter.

But now another force has emerged, which has the potential to transform how opera is produced and received. You can check it out at your local multiplex.

Read more and watch a videoclip of Anna Netrebko as Lucia at the Met singing the Mad Scene...