Rodney Milnes Blumer (26 July 1936, Stafford) is an English music critic, musicologist, writer, translator and broadcaster, with a particular interest in opera. He attended Rugby School and Oxford University before working in publishing. Milnes was opera critic of Harpers and Queen, and then opera critic of The Spectator (1970 90), Evening Standard (1990 92), and The Times (1992 2002). He was associate editor of Opera from 1976, deputy editor from 1984, and editor between 1986 99. There he honed his reputation as a "trenchant and entertaining writer, with a strong background in literature and theatre, and wide musical sympathies".