Carmen wasn't the only opera written by Georges Bizet.  Djamileh tells the story of a "playboy's" monthly slave, Djamileh.  She falls in love with him, but he trades in his mistresses every month for a "new model."  The playboy's servant loves Djamileh and the two make a deal that if she can't make the playboy love her, she will marry him instead.  Learn how the story ends in this synopsis of Bizet's Djamileh.

After watching ABC's hit television show, Once Upon a Time, I fell in love with the fairy tales of my childhood all over again.  Not only that, I remembered that the famous story of Hansel and Gretel was adapted for an opera composed by Englebert Humperdinck.  It's a fantastic opera that premiered on December 23, 1893.  To this day, it is traditionally performed during Christmastime.  Read the full synopsis of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel.  Then watch the opening scene to the final act of the opera on YouTube.

Normally, I have trouble predicting the winner of an an award, whether it's an Oscar, Golden Globe, or Grammy. This year's winner for the Golden Globe for best film score, however, was a no-brainer. The moment I heard the music, I instantly fell in love, and I knew others would too. I didn't even need to hear the other 2012 Golden Globe nominees. If you haven't had a chance to listen to Ludovic Bource's The Artist, you simply must. You can preview, purchase and download tracks at Amazon, or you can listen to one of my favorite tracks on Youtube.

Mozart's famous opera, Cosi fan tutte, or "Women are like that" tells the story of two men and the faithfulness or "supposed faithfulness" of their fiancées.  After making a bet with a bitter old man, the two men craft a plan to dupe their fiancées into quickly exchanging their steadfast love for other men when the two officers claim to have been sent off to war.  Despite the opera's not-so-perfect view of women, it's one of Mozart's most beloved operas, and has been since its creation in 1790.  Read the entire Cosi fan tutte synopsis.

Last week, during a moving performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 9 with the New York Philharmonic, the New York Times reported a strange incident of a ringing cellphone.  Sadly, these kinds of interruptions are all too common, not only during a classical music performance, but even at the movie theater.  (Perhaps, it's time to move "not turning off your cellphone" to the top of the list of ways to ruin a classical music concert.)  What makes this incident so unique, is that the phone began ringing during the final passages of the symphony - one's that are calm, quiet, reflective, and cathartic (the release the entire symphony builds up to), AND it came from the front row directly behind the conductor, Alan Gilbert.  Normally, the phone is silenced within the first few seconds of ringing, but this phone rang and rang and rang and rang, causing the conductor to stop the entire performance until the matter was resolved.  Audience members were shouting and becoming angrier by the minute.  Finally, after the phone was silenced, Gilbert lead the orchestra to finish the piece.  The culprit was later interviewed anonymously, giving his apologizes directly to Gilbert.  After reading his statement, we should give him a pass.  But next time, as my friend stated, "Turn the phone off. Better yet, leave it at home - it's not difficult. Why spend the money on a concert ticket if you can't disconnect for two hours..."

Even though its first performance fell flat on its face, thanks to an audience loyal to rival composer, Giovanni Paisiello, Rossini's Barber of Seville has become one of the most famous comic operas.  Its farcical story, full of disguises and deceptions and based on the play Le Barbier de Séville by Pierre Beaumarchais, tells the story of a two men wanting to marry the same woman.  What makes this opera comical is that Count Almaviva, with the help of Figaro, disguises himself at least 3 or 4 times in order to win the lady's hand in marriage.  Learn how the story ends by reading the Barber of Seville synopsis.

Here's a comic opera with a rather odd moral - Donizetti's Don Pasquale. It is a delightful opera that tells the story of an old man discontent with how his nephew is living his life.  He decides to marry a young woman and give his inheritance to her as a punishment to his nephew.  Find out how the story ends in this synopsis of Don Pasquale.

Just a few weeks ago, the Spike Video Game Awards awarded its nominees.  As a fan of both video games and movies, it's a joy of mine to find out which titles have earned nominations and awards for their original scores.  Having listened to hundreds, if not thousands of scores, there's not much different between a video game score and a movie score.  If you're looking to expand your musical horizon, you may want to checkout these nominated video game original scores.

Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore is one of the most frequently performed operas.  Not only does it feature great music, its humorous plot isn't depressing or sad.  It's a feel good opera to say the least.  If you've never seen it, someone has uploaded an entire performance starring Kathleen Battle as Adina and Luciano Pavarotti as Nemorino on YouTube.  (Watch it here.) I'm not sure how long it will last, so you may want to watch it soon.  It's an amazing performance.   Read along with the L'elisir d'amore synopsis to fully appreciate this wonderful opera.

I love this time of year.  It's always interesting to see which film scores will be nominated for a Golden Globe, Grammy, and Academy Awards.  I love a good film score.  This year's nominees are pretty impressive, but there's one I think may win - or should win by my standards!  Find out which original scores were nominated for a Golden Globe in 2012.