There is no better opera to honor my mother's birthday than Beethoven's only opera about a woman rescuing her husband from being a political prisoner, with a production that transports the action to modern

Sally Matthews, a lyric soprano renowned for both her lyric and coloratura work predominantly in Mozart, tackles Beethoven's iconic heroine who is a paradigm for unconditionally conjugal love, justice

Modern man is full of platitudes about living life to its fullest, with catchy keychain phrases and little plaques for kitchen walls. But if you've never retreated to the solitude of a dark room and listened

RING! RING! RING!: BEETHOVEN: "YEAH, WHAT UP DRE?" DRE: "I NEED YOU TO JUMP ON THIS TRACK REAL QUICK." BEETHOVEN: "I CAN'T I'M WORKING ON SOMETHING. YOU'LL THANK ME LATER."