concert:nova, the innovative chamber ensemble, presents a two-part festival of Baroque music and contemporary visions of the Baroque style at 7 p.m., Tuesday and Wednesday at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Musicians from the CSO and CCM are featured in the program that includes Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 2 and 3, works by Handel, Vivaldi, Albinoni and Samuel Barber.  

The 2012 World Choir Games are officially Cincinnati's, as Interkultur President Gunther Titsch presented the event's flag to Mayor Mark Mallory at the Oct. 20 City Council meeting. But Titsch and WCG Artistic Director Gábor Hollerung had more on their agenda than flag exchanges. They emphasized that they were here to begin planning for what will be the largest international arts event in Cincinnati history. The city's seven hills will indeed be alive with the sound of music.  

After Cincinnati nabbed the 2012 World Choir Games last June, It was only natural to turn to Dr. Catherine Roma, a passionate advocate for building community through choral singing. In March, she began recruiting singers from her choirs for SingCinnati. Singers had to have schedules flexible enough to fit in a demanding rehearsal schedule and nine days in China.  

Puccini's 'La Boheme' is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, featuring love at first sight in Paris for the seamstress Mimi and the poet Rudolfo, struggling young artists, with a heartbreaking conclusion and that meltingly beautiful score. The inspiration for 'Rent,' it's the perfect opera for first-timers, for date night, for anyone.  

Puccini's 'La Boheme' is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. The inspiration for 'Rent,' it's the perfect opera for first-timers, for date night, for anyone. And when the staging is by veteran British director Jonathan Miller, 'La Boheme' is a must-see, a Cincinnati Opera co-production with the English National Opera updated to Paris in the early 1930s with a cast of exciting young singers. Miller speaks with CityBeat about his insistence on hewing to the dramatic truth in opera productions.  

Cincinnati Opera's 90th anniversary season roars back with 'Otello,' Verdi's brilliant setting of Shakespeare's tragedy of toxic doubt and jealousy. There's plenty of drama onstage, but look for an equally compelling performance from the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra led by Robert Spano, one of the most acclaimed conductors in the business. Spano spoke with CityBeat about his Cincinnati Opera debut.  

The Cincinnati Opera presents what's considered by some to be Verdi's masterpiece. The composer came out of a 15-year retirement to create this Italian opera gem, a tragic work based on Shakespeare's 'Othello' set in Cyprus in the late 1400s. It's the story of forbidden love, war, betrayal and, above all, jealousy. Acclaimed conductor Robert Spano leads the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra for performances Wednesday and Saturday at Music Hall.  

'Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg' requires an enormous amount of musical and stagecraft resources, and it's rarely presented by opera companies in the United States. Cincinnati Opera opens its 90th season with performances of Wagner's six-hour epic on Wednesday and Saturday at Music Hall.  

Richard Wagner's operas are hardly metaphors for fast food, but when it comes to the "ultra grande" menu nothing competes with his 'Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg.' There might be no calories or saturated fats, but mounting a production of 'Meistersinger' can put a company at risk for cardiac arrest ... which it nearly did for Cincinnnati Opera.  

Cincinnati Opera's 90th anniversary season already has more drama than a Verdi potboiler in an Italian opera house about to go on strike. But despite casting woes for the opening work, there's plenty to celebrate: three great operas with world-class performers, conductors and directors. It all kicks off with a gala concert June 19 featuring acclaimed performers from the company's past and present.