Opera house at palace of Versailles reopens

October 8th, 2009 Webber moves 'Phantom' to Coney islandLONDON — The Phantom of the Opera is coming back — but this time, he'll be haunting the amusement park at New York's Coney Island rather than the Paris opera house. Star composer Andrew Lloyd Webber on Thursday announced a long-awaited sequel to his massively successful "Phantom of the Opera," one of the world's best loved and longest running musicals.

October 8th, 2009 Webber moves 'Phantom' to Coney islandLONDON — The Phantom of the Opera is coming back — but this time, he'll be haunting the amusement park at New York's Coney Island rather than the Paris opera house. Star composer Andrew Lloyd Webber on Thursday announced a long-awaited sequel to his massively successful "Phantom of the Opera," one of the world's best loved and longest running musicals.

October 7th, 2009 Soprano Sills' estate sells for more than $500KNEW YORK — An auction of the late soprano Beverly Sills' estate fetched more than a half-million dollars Wednesday — far more than expected for the costume designs, art and other personal items. Sills died in July 2007 after being diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer.

October 1st, 2009 Estate of famed soprano Beverly Sills up for saleNEW YORK — The estate of famed soprano Beverly Sills is headed to the auction block in New York City. Costume designs, artwork, furniture and jewelry are among the items up for sale next Wednesday at Doyle New York auction house.

September 30th, 2009 90 years later, opera's back on Bourbon StreetNEW ORLEANS — Bourbon Street — where Dixieland jazz competes with karaoke bars, rock 'n' roll cover bands and strip club jukeboxes — is also one of the first places in America where opera was heard. Now, it's being heard there again, with a New Orleans-style twist.

August 25th, 2009 Royal Opera, Bayreuth to release Wagner DVSsBERLIN — Germany's Bayreuth Festival has agreed to enter a deal with a production arm of Britain's Royal Opera House to produce and sell DVD recordings of composer Richard Wagner's operas recorded at the annual festival. Bayreuth Festival co-director Katharina Wagner said Tuesday the first recording would be Christoph Marthaler's production of "Tristan and Isolde" conducted by Peter Schneider at this summer's festival.

August 21st, 2009 NYC Opera, union reach contract agreementNEW YORK — The New York City Opera and the union for its singers have reached a contract agreement. The opera's management and the American Guild of Musical Artists of the AFL-CIO announced the two-year agreement Friday.

August 19th, 2009 Rome says Muti to lead its opera houseROME — Rome says maestro Riccardo Muti has agreed to lead the city's opera house, pending final approval of details. City Hall says Muti would continue to be the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's music director while assuming the helm in Rome starting in December 2010.

August 17th, 2009 Met Opera sells record $2.5 million of ticketsNEW YORK — The Metropolitan Opera was singing a happy song about the first day of individual box office sales for the upcoming season. The Met sold $2.5 million worth of tickets on Sunday at its box office, telephone call center and Web site, up from $2 million on the first day of sales last year.

August 11th, 2009 UK's Royal Opera House to perform 'Twitter' operaLONDON — It probably won't be "Madame Butterfly," but it should be fun. In an effort to get more people involved with opera, which sometimes suffers from an elitist, highbrow reputation, London's world-famous Royal Opera House is turning away — temporarily — from classic talents like Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini and giving the composer's pen to ...

July 26th, 2009 PARIS — PARIS (AP) — French President Nicolas Sarkozy "felt faint" while jogging Sunday at a presidential residence outside the capital and was undergoing medical tests, the Elysee Palace announced and his chief of staff was quoted at saying. France's main cable television channels flashed text reports of the president's health across the bottom of their screens but live programming of the final leg of the Tour de France on the main TV channel was not interrupted.

July 22nd, 2009 Home of poet John Keats reopens after renovationLONDON — The London house where John Keats wrote some of his most famous poems is to reopen this week after a 500,000 pound ($800,000) renovation, city officials said Wednesday. Keats lived in the house near leafy Hampstead Heath between 1818 and 1820, writing "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and "Ode to a Nightingale" there.

July 7th, 2009 Opera singer performs in wheelchair in London LONDON — It was not such a lucky break. Opera singer Joyce DiDonato was appearing on a London stage in a wheelchair after breaking her leg during an earlier performance.

June 14th, 2009 Michelle Obama, girls get rare London palace tourLONDON — First came the hug, then a guided tour of Buckingham Palace. First Lady Michelle Obama, on a visit to London last week, got permission from Queen Elizabeth II for a guided tour of the palace with her daughters, Sasha and Malia.

June 1st, 2009 White House wants queen to attend D-Day ceremoniesWASHINGTON — The White House wants Queen Elizabeth II at D-Day ceremonies later this week. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Monday that President Barack Obama wants to include the queen, who served in uniform during World War II.