Opera In Action

The literary critic Peggy Reynolds reads some well-known operas like a book, exploring the themes that run through them. Today: abandoned women.

The literary critic Peggy Reynolds reads some well-known operas like a book, exploring the themes that run through them. Today: abandoned women.

Martin Handley begins a two-part profile of the great Swedish soprano Birgit Nilsson, focusing on her finest roles in operas by Wagner, Strauss, Puccini and Mozart.

Martin Handley concludes his two-part profile of the great Swedish soprano Birgit Nilsson, focusing on her finest roles in operas by Wagner, Strauss, Puccini and Mozart.

Ruth Mackenzie, general director of the Scottish Opera, introduces a selection of operatic highlights.

Ruth Mackenzie, general director of Scottish Opera, introduces a selection of operatic highlights.

Michael White investigates the Vienna of a century ago, examining Mahler's influence on opera and his curious fondness for the popular operetta tunes of the day.

Lynne Walker talks to musical impresario Raymond Gubbay about his unashamedly populist approach to opera, and uncovers his musical tastes, which range from Verdi and Puccini to Auber and Wagner.

Lynne Walker looks at the relationship between opera composers and their librettists and talks to John Mortimer about one of the most celebrated collaborations of all, that of Mozart and da Ponte.

The conductor Martin Handley investigates spieloper - the form of 19th-century popular opera which maintains its hold on German audiences but is all but ignored in Britain. Music includes works by Lortzing, Flotow and Nicolai.

The conductor Martin Handley investigates the wealth of small provincial opera houses in Germany, looking at how a typical season might satisfy audience demand for popular works whilst throwing in a few surprises.

Martin Handley presents the second programme in a two-part profile of the great Swedish soprano Birgit Nilsson, focusing on her finest roles in operas by Wagner, Strauss, Puccini and Mozart.

Bass Robert Lloyd talks about his experience of working with New York's Metropolitan Opera, where he made his debut in 1988.

Bass Robert Lloyd explores the relationship between singers and conductors in the world of opera.

Bass Robert Lloyd attempts to decide which opera he considers to be his favourite.

Bass Robert Lloyd takes a look at the dramas that happen backstage at opera houses around the world.

Bass Robert Lloyd on the process of preparing an operatic role. Music by Mozart, Verdi and Wagner.

Bass Robert Lloyd answers some of the questions he is often asked about his work.

Robert Lloyd takes a close look at the process of preparing for an operatic role. Featuring music by Mozart, Verdi and Wagner.

Ruth Mackenzie, general director of Scottish Opera, introduces a selection of operatic highlights. `Beginnings and Endings'. To conclude the series, a look at how operas start and finish. With excerpts from Janacek's `Jenufa' and Mozart's `The Marriage of Figaro'.

Ruth Mackenzie, general director of Scottish Opera, introduces a selection of operatic highlights. `Choruses'. Excerpts from Puccini's `Tosca' and Britten's `Peter Grimes'.

Ruth Mackenzie, general director of Scottish Opera, introduces a selection of operatic highlights. `Death'. A look at death in opera, with excerpts from Verdi's `Aida', Strauss's `Elektra' and Purcell's `Dido and Aeneas'.

Michael White explores the relationship between opera and religion, with music by Britten, Leoncavallo and Puccini. And baritone Richard Lloyd talks about his life as an ordained priest.

In the first of four programmes exploring Prague's many operatic connections, Jan Smaczny investigates the 18th-century city and discovers the musical background to early performances there of Mozart's `Don Giovanni' and `The Marriage of Figaro'.

Bass Robert Lloyd investigates the difficulties involved in staging Mozart's `Don Giovanni'.

Bass Robert Lloyd investigates the difficulties involved in staging Mozart's `Don Giovanni'.

Lynne Walker investigates how opera from Rameau to Janacek has been shaped by the buildings in which it is performed. With expert on early opera Roger Savage and Glyndebourne architects Sir Michael and Patty Hopkins.

In the first of a new series, Michael White assembles a `dream team' cast for Bizet's masterpiece, including Maria Callas, Teresa Berganza, Franco Corelli and Placido Domingo

Ruth Mackenzie, general director of Scottish Opera, introduces a selection of operatic highlights. `Ensembles'. Duets, trios, quintets and sextets by Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Strauss.

Michael White assembles his dream cast for Tchaikovsky's operatic masterpiece `Eugene Onegin', including Galina Vishnevskaya, Vladimir Atlantov, Neil Shikov and Dmitri Hvorostovsky.

Michael White assembles his ideal cast for Beethoven's only opera, including Kirsten Flagstad, Jon Vickers, Walter Berry, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Otto Klemperer.

Ruth Mackenzie, general director of the Scottish Opera, introduces a selection of opera highlights. Some of the best moments in opera - familiar and unfamiliar - are set in their true dramatic context. `Introduction'. The series begins by showing what opera does best and by taking a hard look at a few old favourites. Music includes highlights from Bizet's `Carmen', Puccini's `Turandot', Verdi's `Rigoletto' and Mozart's `Don Giovanni'.

Michael White assembles a dream cast for Puccini's well-loved masterpiece `La Boheme', including listeners' suggestions.

Michael White presents a celebration of the great German soprano Anja Silja, including excerpts from her classic recordings of Berg, Janacek, Strauss and Wagner.

Michael White talks to the great bass-baritone John Tomlinson and plays recordings of his greatest roles, including music by Wagner, Mozart and Mussorgsky.

Ruth Mackenzie, general director of the Scottish Opera, introduces a selection of operatic highlights. `Love (Part 1)'. Love, in all its forms, is always present in opera stories. Including music by Mozart and Puccini.

Ruth Mackenzie, general director of the Scottish Opera, introduces a selection of operatic highlights. `Love (Part 2)'. Love, in all its forms, is always present in opera stories. Including music by Strauss, Verdi and Wagner.

Michael White celebrates the enduring legacy of Maria Callas, one of the greatest sopranos of the 20th century. Including excerpts from her performances as `Norma', `Carmen' and `Lucia di Lammermoor'.

In the second of four programmes exploring Prague's many operatic connections, Jan Smaczny looks at the city during the glory days of the Czech national revival and unearths musical gems composed by Dvorak, Smetana and Skroup.

The second of four programmes exploring Prague's many operatic connections. Jan Smaczny recalls Prague in 1881 and the opening of the National Theatre. With music by Smetana, Dvorak, Fibich and Foerster.

In his final visit to Prague, Jan Smaczny investigates operas by Janacek, Martinu and Friml.

Michael White assembles his dream cast for Gluck's groundbreaking opera `Orfeo ed Euridice', including Derek Lee Ragin, Janet Baker, Agnes Baltsa and Kathleen Ferrier.

Michael White assembles his dream cast for Benjamin Britten's masterpiece `Peter Grimes', including Peter Pears, Jon Vickers, Joan Cross and Thomas Allen.

Michael White traces the musical partnership between Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears, for whose distinctive voice Britten created a dozen operatic roles, from Peter Grimes (1945) to Aschenbach in `Death in Venice' (1973). With excerpts from Britten's operas and works by other composers.

`Revenge'. Ruth Mackenzie introduces operatic settings of revenge by Verdi, Strauss and Mozart.

Valerie Solti presents an intimate portrait of her late husband, Sir Georg Solti, who was one of the towering figures in opera for over 50 years, from his prewar performances assisting Toscanini and his groundbreaking `Ring' cycle for Decca, to his late recordings championing young singers such as Angela Gheorghiu.

Michael White assembles his dream cast for Bernstein and Sondheim's groundbreaking interpretation of the `Romeo and Juliet' story, including Kiri te Kanawa, Jose Carreras, Marilyn Horne and members of the original film cast.

Ruth Mackenzie, general director of the Scottish Opera, introduces a selection of operatic highlights. `The Aria'. Arias are one of the most important vehicles for expression in opera. This programme includes excerpts from Bizet's `Carmen', Mozart's `Don Giovanni' and Britten's `Peter Grimes'.

Ruth Mackenzie, general director of Scottish Opera, introduces a selection of operatic highlights. `The Conductor'. Excerpts from Wagner's `Die Walkure' and Gershwin's `Porgy and Bess'.

Martin Handley explores the power of opera to rock public and political opinion. Works investigated include Mozart's `The Marriage of Figaro' - which shocked 18th-century sensibilities - Beethoven's overtly political `Fidelio', and three subversive 20th-century operas - Weill's `Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny', Krenek's `Jonny Spielt Auf' and Shostakovich's `Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District'.

Michael White assembles a dream cast for Mozart's masterpiece `The Marriage of Figaro', including suggestions by listeners.

Ruth Mackenzie, general director of the Scottish Opera, introduces a selection of operatic highlights. `The Opera Director'. Excerpts from Bizet's `Carmen', Mozart's `The Magic Flute' and John Adams's `Nixon in China'.

Ruth Mackenzie, general director of the Scottish Opera, introduces a selection of opera highlights. Some of the best moments in opera - familiar and unfamiliar - are set in their true dramatic context. `The Story'. Including arias from `La boheme', `Tosca', `Cosi fan tutte' and `Otello'.

Robert Lloyd takes over the programme, sharing some of his experiences from thirty years on the opera stages of the world and introducing recordings by some of the singers he has most admired.

Including Jon Vickers in `Peter Grimes' and Geraint Evans as Leporello in `Don Giovanni', and recordings by Mirella Freni, Cesare Siepi and Jose Carreras

Robert Lloyd takes over the programme, sharing some of his experiences from thirty years on the opera stages of the world and introducing recordings by some of the singers he has most admired.

Including Jon Vickers in `Peter Grimes' and Geraint Evans as Leporello in `Don Giovanni', and recordings by Mirella Freni, Cesare Siepi and Jose Carreras

Robert Lloyd shares some of his experiences from thirty years on the opera stages of the world and introduces recordings by some of the singers he has most admired.

This week and next, he considers the charm and the challenges of the French language, with recordings including Regine Crespin in Bizet's `Carmen' and Debussy's `Pelleas et Melisande'.

`BBC Music Magazine' editor Graeme Kay presents six programmes on the mechanics of opera.

2: A look at operatic complications - the letters, mistaken identities, overheard conversations and acts of God that fuel the drama of opera plots.

Robert Lloyd shares some of his experiences from thirty years on the opera stages of the world and introduces recordings by some of the singers he has most admired.

This week, he considers the charm and the challenges of the French language in opera, with Regine Crespin singing excerpts from Bizet's `Carmen' and Debussy's `Pelleas et Melisande'.

BBC Music Magazine editor Graeme Kay presents six programmes on the mechanics of opera.

This programme is about dialogue: composers have used every possible device for making conversations seem realistic, but with varying degrees of success.

Robert Lloyd continues his exploration of the charm and the challenges of singing French operatic repertoire.

Graeme Kay presents a series on the mechanics of opera.

This programme looks at the orchestra and the vital part it plays in the dramatic flow of an opera.

Bass Robert Lloyd considers what the term `bel canto' means to him, with performances by Cecilia Bartoli and Joan Sutherland, among others.

Graeme Kay continues his exploration of the mechanics of opera with a look at the supernatural, what it adds to opera and how composers bring it to life.

Robert Lloyd shares some of his experiences from thirty years as a leading operatic bass.

This week, he turns his attention to the great Russian singers, from Feodor Chaliapin to the voices of the present day.

Graeme Kay concludes his exploration of the mechanics of opera with a look at singers - what they bring to operatic roles, and how they become identified with particular characters.

This week, Robert Lloyd considers Mozart's operatic output.

He draws on his own experiences in the role of Il Commendatore in `Don Giovanni' and selects recordings by, among others, Lucia Popp and Thomas Allen.

Martin Handley embarks on an exploration of opera from the conductor's perspective, beginning with a look at first nights.

In his approach to the operas of the German tradition - Beethoven's `Fidelio', Wagner's `Ring' cycle and the operas of Kurt Weill - Robert Lloyd seeks out performances that reveal, perhaps surprisingly, something of the bel canto style of singing.

Featuring recordings by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Christa Ludwig and Ute Lemper, among others.

Martin Handley continues his exploration of opera from the conductor's perspective with a look at the musical preparation required for the performance of an opera.

This week, Robert Lloyd considers some of the English singers who helped to overcome the image of England as a land without voices.

Including recordings by Eva Turner, Elizabeth Harwood, Peter Glossop and Janet Baker

Martin Handley continues his exploration of opera from the conductor's perspective with a look at how the orchestra works.

Politics, seating plans and last-minute panics all play their part.

In his long career, Robert Lloyd has performed frequently in the United States.

Today, he reflects on the ways in which opera in America differs from elsewhere, with performances by Leontyne Price, James Morris and Dawn Upshaw.

Martin Handley continues his exploration of opera from the conductor's perspective with a look at the role of the chorus.

It is one of the foundation stones of any company, and its morale is a good barometer of the company's health.

This week, Robert Lloyd explores the extraordinary number of fine voices that Wales has produced.

Featured artists include Margaret Price, Stuart Burrows, Bryn Terfel, Della Jones and Dennis O'Neill in music by Verdi, Mozart, Handel and Puccini.

Martin Handley continues his exploration of opera with a look at the opportunities for a singer of a long-term contract with an opera company.

It can be a wonderful foundation for a young singer's career, but is the security of guaranteed work worth sacrificing the freedom to make decisions about what, when and where to sing?

Robert Lloyd takes a personal look at what being a singer actually means, with the help of recordings by Carlo Bergonzi, Shirley Verret and Arleen Auger.

Martin Handley continues his exploration of opera with a look at the issues of language in opera, including surtitles, English translations, and the various difficulties of opera in other languages.

Robert Lloyd looks at how opera has changed in the last thirty years and how this has affected the great opera theatres of the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opera, La Scala, Milan, and Covent Garden.

Martin Handley continues his exploration of opera with a look at the work of an offstage conductor, whose job it is to direct offstage singers and musicians in live performances.

`BBC Music Magazine' editor Graeme Kay presents six programmes on the mechanics of opera.

Today, he explores the call to action - how music grabs the audience's attention and how it changes the atmosphere at pivotal dramatic moments.

Martin Handley continues his exploration of opera from the conductor's point of view with a look at the risks involved in live opera recordings.

Martin Handley continues his series with a look at opera's elitist image, its high production costs and expensive seat prices.

The series continues with eight programmes in which the poet Peter Porter reflects on opera, of which he is a lifelong enthusiast.

1: `The Poet, the Philosopher and the Cynic'.

Thoughts about the representation of poets on the stage, with excerpts from Puccini: La boheme; Wagner: The Mastersingers; Mozart: Cosi fan tutte; and Purcell: The Fairy Queen.

In the second of eight programmes in which poet Peter Porter shares his enthusiasm for opera, he introduces duets about different kinds of relationships, with music from Verdi's `La forza del destino' and `Rigoletto', Britten's `A Midsummer Night's Dream', and Humperdinck's `Hansel and Gretel'.

In the third of eight programmes in which poet Peter Porter shares his enthusiasm for opera, he introduces a selection of lesser-known arias from famous operas.

Including music from `Don Giovanni', `Samson and Delilah', `Turandot' and `The Marriage of Figaro'.

In the fourth of eight programmes in which poet Peter Porter shares his enthusiasm for opera, he introduces recording by Australian musicians who came to Britain, including Dame Nellie Melba, Dame Joan Sutherland, Gregory Yurisich, Yvonne Kenny, Arnold Matters and Sir Charles Mackerras.

In the fifth of eight programmes in which poet Peter Porter shares his enthusiasm for opera, he presents a selection of marches, dances and rituals from a range of operas, including Verdi: Un ballo in Maschera.

Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier.

Gluck: Orfeo.

Harrison Birtwistle: Gawain.

In the sixth of eight programmes in which poet Peter Porter shares his enthusiasm for opera, he draws pairs of scenes from operas by Beethoven, Britten, Handel and Stravinsky and focuses on characters' first and last appearances on the stage.

Peter Porter explores the dramatic device of the letter in operas.

Including excerpts from Britten's `Turn of the Screw'; Verdi's `Macbeth', `La traviata' and `Falstaff'; and Tchaikovsky's `Eugene Onegin' - the most famous letter scene of them all.

Peter Porter concludes his series of programmes by unearthing some of the operatic treasures he would hope to find safely concealed on a desert island.

Music includes precious moments from operas by Mozart, Puccini, Tippett and Strauss.

Graeme Kay presents the first of six programmes exploring how countries and nationalities have been treated in opera down the ages and how different composers have portrayed one country's history and people.

Today, he focuses on Scotland, with excerpts from Donizetti's `Lucia di Lammermoor', Bizet's `La jolie fille de Perth', MacCunn's `Jeanie Deans', Verdi's `Macbeth' and Judith Weir's `The Vanishing Bridegroom'.

Graeme Kay presents the second of six programmes exploring how countries and nationalities have been treated in opera down the ages and how different composers have portrayed the same country's history and people.

Today, he explores Egypt, with music from Handel's `Julius Caesar', Schoenberg's `Moses and Aaron', Philip Glass's `Akhnaten' and Verdi's `Aida'.

Graem Kaye continues his exploration of the representation of nationality in opera with a look at works about America and Americans.

Music includes Bernstein's West Side Story, Britten's Paul Bunyan, Franchetti's Cristoforo Colombo and Puccini's Madam Butterfly.

Graeme Kay continues his series investigating the portrayal of nationality in opera.

Today, he examines China.

Music includes excerpts from John Adams's `Nixon in China', Puccini's `Turandot', Stravinsky's `The Nightingale' and Judith Weir's `A Night at the Chinese Opera'.

Graeme Kay continues his series investigating the portrayal of nationality in opera.

Today, he focuses on England, with music including excerpts from Britten: Albert Herring.

Verdi: Falstaff.

Purcell: King Arthur.

Rossini: Il viaggio a Reims.

Graeme Kay continues his series investigating the portrayal of nationality in opera.

Today, he focuses on Russia.

Music includes excerpts from Prokofiev: War and Peace.

Shostakovich: Cheryomushki.

Walton: The Bear.

Musorgsky: Boris Godunov.

Graeme Kay's world tour of opera continues with a look at Spain, land of the castanet, toreador and zarzuela - all of which feature in today's programme.

Graeme Kay's world tour of opera continues with a look at Greece, both ancient and modern, and features music from Handel to Henze.

The first of six programmes in which Stephen Johnson rediscovers some great opera performers.

1: Alfredo Kraus.

The Spanish tenor Alfredo Kraus, who died recently, astonished audiences by singing Bellini, Verdi and Donizetti with unrivalled youthful lyricism even in his seventies.

The second of six programmes in which Stephen Johnson rediscovers some great opera performers.

2: Gundula Janowitz.

In a career spanning four decades the German soprano Gundula Janowitz has dazzled in roles as diverse as Fiordiligi in Mozart's `Cosi fan tutte' and Eva in Wagner's `Die Meistersinger'.

The third of six programmes in which Stephen Johnson rediscovers some great opera performers.

German bass-baritone Theo Adam made his name at the Bayreuth Festival as one of the great Wagnerians.

But in roles such as Prospero in Luciano Berio's `Un re in ascolto', Adam has also shone as a fine interpreter of 20th-century opera.

Stephen Johnson continues his series rediscovering some great opera performers.

The sheer beauty of her voice made the soprano Sena Jurinac a natural interpreter of the great Mozart operas.

But as her voice matured, she proved her versatility in roles such as Monteverdi's Poppea and the Composer in Richard Strauss's `Ariadne auf Naxos'.

Stephen Johnson continues his series rediscovering some great opera performers with a selection of recordings by the American tenor James King, including his remarkable interpretation of Siegmund in Wagner's `Die Walkure'.

Stephen Johnson rediscovers great opera performers, ending his series with recordings by the American soprano Arleen Auger.

Once described as a vocal chameleon for the richness of her vocal characterisations, she excelled in Mozart and Haydn but also recorded a landmark performance of Handel's `Alcina' before her premature death.

Literary critic Peggy Reynolds reads some well-known operas like a book, exploring the themes that run through them.

Today: letter scenes.

An investigation of the altered states affecting characters in operas - including fitting, hallucinations and sleepwalking - which began during the growing interest in psychology during the 19th century and reached a natural conclusion in the Freudian theories of the 20th century.

Literary critic Peggy Reynolds explores the themes of some well-known operas, including works by Mozart, Verdi, Puccini and Rossini.

Literary critic Peggy Reynolds explores operas with two strong male characters.

Composers like Mozart, Verdi and Britten particularly enjoyed the musical opportunities for duets between tenor and baritone, but what are the wider implications of these operatic examples of male bonding?

Literary critic Peggy Reynolds explores operas that feature duets for two women.

The sheer beauty of two women's voices interwining in duet has inspired composers from Monteverdi to Strauss.

But what are the women singing about?

Literary critic Peggy Reynolds explores operas which feature jokers and sorcerers.

Sorcerers by their nature have magic powers which can transform the mundane into the marvellous - rather like the power of the theatre to suspend disbelief.

And jokers are licensed to say the unthinkable and the unsayable - a freedom they can use for good and evil.

Both have held sway in opera - the most magical of theatrical genres.

`Orpheus's Offspring'.

How do characters sing in an opera when they are singing already?

Lynn Walker discusses favourite operatic moments with a series of guests.

1: Ralph Koltai.

During his 50-year career, Ralph Koltai's designs have transformed the stages of opera houses around the world.

Among his most precious memories are Visconti's stunning production of Verdi's `Don Carlos' from the 1950s and Beecham's extraordinary recording of Puccini's `La boheme'.

Michael White explores the practical problems of working on the operatic stage and examines how these difficulties are exacerbated by the addition of children and animals.

Music includes excerpts from operas by Britten, Mozart and Janacek.

2: `Lust'.

Michael White explores the theme of lust in opera, including examples from Wagner, Mozart, Verdi, Rossini, Strauss and Purcell and from musicals by Stephen Sondheim.

Lynn Walker discusses favourite operatic moments with a series of guests.

2: Elaine Padmore.

Covent Garden's director of opera first visited Wagner's Festspielhaus in Bayreuth in 1966 to hear `Tristan und Isolde'.

Her selection includes excerpts from this opera and from Delius's `The Magic Fountain'.

Michael White traces the musical partnership between Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears, for whose distinctive voice Britten created a dozen operatic roles, from Peter Grimes in 1945 to `Death in Venice' in 1973.

With excerpts from Britten's operas and from works by other composers.

Lynn Walker discusses favourite operatic moments with a series of guests.

3: David Pountney.

The director's selection of operas includes Janacek's `The Cunning Little Vixen', Musorgsky's `Boris Godunov' and Otto Klemperer's classic interpretation of Beethoven's `Fidelio'.

Lynn Walker discusses favourite operatic moments with a series of guests.

4: David Bintley.

The artistic director of Birmingham Royal Ballet counts among his most valued operatic experiences Andrei Serban's production of Puccini's `Turandot' at Covent Garden.

But he's also a huge admirer of Benjamin Britten

Michael White explores operas which feature weather as part of their dramatic scheme.

Many a storm rages across the operatic stage, reflecting the inner turmoil of the characters.

But how does opera cope when faced with depicting the weather?

Michael White investigates the core pantomime element in opera - the trouser role, when a woman dresses up as a boy, and less often the reverse, when male characters dress in drag.

Musical examples include excerpts from operas by Mozart, Strauss and Handel.

Michael White explores the recorded legacy of performances at Bayreuth, where Wagner conceived of a theatre for performances of his epic Ring cycle.

Many of the very finest Wagner singers and conductors have had their greatest successes in Bayreuth, and during the 20th century many great performances were committed to disc.

Michael White continues his exploration of the Seven Deadly Sins in opera with a look at `anger'.

Music includes excerpts from works by Janacek, Verdi, Mozart, Wagner and Britten.

Michael White explores the repertoire for the highest of male voices - the countertenor and the castrato - and investigates the physical side-effects of the supreme operatic sacrifice.

Michael White celebrates the twenty-first birthday of Opera North.

Including recordings of Walton, Musorgsky, Gerhard and Constant Lambert.

Artists include Bryn Terfel, John Tomlinson and Sally Burgess, not to mention Harry Enfield offering a guide to opera.

Michael White talks to rich people who pay for opera to be performed and investigates to what extent they call the tune.

Michael White presents a birthday celebration for the great German soprano Anja Silja, including excerpts from her classic recordings of Berg, Janacek, Strauss and Wagner.

Michael White talks to baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky, whose career has included roles in operas by Tchaikovsky and Verdi since he won the title of Cardiff Singer of the World in 1989.

In honour of Shakespeare's birthday yesterday, Michael White explores the wide-ranging influence of the Bard on the world of opera.

Michael White continues his exploration of the Seven Deadly Sins in opera with a look at `greed', `sloth' and `gluttony'.

Michael White celebrates the opening of the new season at Glyndebourne with recordings of some of its greatest moments, including a 1935 recording of `Cosi fan tutte' conducted by Fritz Busch with soprano Audrey Mildmay.

Lynne Walker is joined by Richard Hickox to hear favourite moments from his opera recordings, including music by Britten, Holst, Handel and Prokofiev.

Lynne Walker goes in search of operatic characters who might be missing but shouldn't necessarily be presumed dead.

Operas range from Puccini's `Tosca' to Bizet's `Carmen', and from Poulenc's `La voix humaine' to Britten's `The Turn of the Screw'.

Lynne Walker talks to Sir Charles Mackerras about his many wide-ranging opera recordings - from Handel and Janacek to Gilbert and Sullivan.

Michael White follows five of Britain's opera companies as they search for new audiences, young and old, in their BBC Music Live projects.

Michael White takes a walk through some operatic gardens and talks to Lady Walton about the little plot of Ischia she has brought to the Chelsea Flower Show.

`Envy'.

Michael White explores some of the nastier character traits in opera - from Iago to Salome.

Michael White talks to the great bass-baritone John Tomlinson and plays recordings of his greatest roles, including music by Wagner, Mozart and Musorgsky.

Michael White explores the personalities and voices of soubrettes in scenes by Mozart, Sullivan and Strauss.

Originally a stock character in 18th-century French theatre, the role of the cheeky but bright servant girl developed into an operatic fixture.

Michael White investigates the role of the orchestra in opera, including excerpts from Britten's `Billy Budd' and Bartok's `Bluebeard's Castle'.

Michael White examines the sin of pride as displayed on the operatic stage.

Pride is one of the great plot devices of opera, as characters get themselves into greater and greater trouble through their own conceit.

Music includes examples of egoism from the operas of Mozart, Britten and Janacek.

Michael White investigates the operatic parts which break singers' voices.

It is not just high notes and immense roles - some of opera's most lyrical and beautiful moments can test singers beyond their endurance.

Michael White investigates the role of speech in opera - the moments when the singing stops and only the spoken word will do.

Examples range from witty repartee in Offenbach to climactic shouting in Strauss.