Opera on Radio

BBC Radio 3 is the year-round home of opera at the BBC, broadcasting two operas each week, and around 90 complete operas a year; its flagship programme Opera on 3 allows listeners to experience some of the very best opera performances from the national and international stage.

BBC Radio 3 will present an enriched opera offering this autumn, which will include special editions of programmes including Saturday Classics, Music Matters, Private Passions, Composer Of The Week, The Essay and two dedicated Sunday Feature documentaries. Radio 3 will also broadcast the seven major operas featured in the V&A’s new exhibition: Opera: Passion, Power And Politics.

Alan Davey, Controller, BBC Radio 3, says: "Radio 3 is the year-round home of opera at the BBC, broadcasting two operas a week, and around 90 complete operas a year. We are committed to bringing remarkable music and culture to our listeners, and as such are pleased to be able to offer an enriched opera offering on Radio 3 this autumn.

"With a curated season of documentaries, special programmes, appearances by some of today’s most exciting artists, as well as broadcasting each of the operas featured in the V&A’s exhibition, we hope to provide a treat for opera lovers, and allow new audiences to discover this important art form."

As a prelude to the opera season’s offering on Radio 3, Radio 4 will present a five part series, Following Pappano, which shadows Sir Antonio Pappano as the Royal Opera House’s production of La bohème takes shape. He works with singers, discusses the particular challenges of operating at the very highest level of operatic performance, and gives candid insights into the often perilous journey towards an opening night.

Pictured: Danielle de Niese. Image credit: Chris Dunlop

Opera on 3 and Afternoon Concert: 30 September - 23 December 2017

BBC Two: Lucy Worsley’s Nights At The Opera

Radio 3 will broadcast the following seven operas featured in the V&A’s exhibition:

Opera on 3 - Monteverdi L’Incoronazione di Poppea | 30 September 2017
An EBU recording of a performance given by La Venexiana with director Davide Pozzi, featuring singers Giuseppina Bridelli, Emanuela Galli and Davide Benetti.

Afternoon Concert - Handel Rinaldo | 5 October 2017
A recording by the Academy of Ancient Music conducted by Christopher Hogwood, starring Cecilia Bartoli, David Daniels, Bernarda Fink and Gerald Finley.

Afternoon Concert - Verdi Nabucco | 19 October 2017
A Royal Opera House production of Nabucco with Placido Domingo, Liudmyla Monastryka, conducted by Nicola Luisotti.

Opera on 3 - Wagner Tannhauser | 28 October 2017
A Royal Opera House production with a cast led by Peter Seiffert, Christian Gerhaher, Emma Bell, Sophie Koch, conducted by Hartmut Haenchen.

Afternoon Concert - Strauss Salome | 2 November 2017
An ROH production with Angela Denoke, Irina Mishura, Gerhard Siegel, conducted by Hartmut Haenchen.

Opera on 3 - Shostakovich Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk | 11 November 2017
An EBU recording, with cast including Ferruccio Furlanetto, Maxim Paster, Nina Stemme, with the Vienna State Opera Chorus and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Mariss Jansons.

Opera on 3 - Mozart Le Nozze di Figaro | 23 December 2017
Opera on 3 (Live from the Met), with a cast including Ailyn Pérez, Nadine Sierra, Isabel Leonard, Luca Pisaroni, Mariusz Kwiecien, and Ildar Abdrazakov, and conducted by Harry Bicket.

Further Radio 3 programming

Saturday Classics – Danielle de Niese | 30 September 2017
Internationally acclaimed Soprano Danielle de Niese presents a personal selection of music closest to her heart.

Music Matters | 7 October 2017
In this special edition of Music Matters, Sara Mohr-Pietsch (pictured above) considers the future of opera. She is joined by mezzo-soprano Dame Felicity Palmer, who, celebrating an astounding 50 years on the stage, talks about her life in the opera house and about opera today.

In the programme, Sara also visits the Centre For Research In Opera And Music Theatre at the University of Sussex, uncovering some of the most cutting-edge productions in the works today, including robot opera stars and virtual reality opera.

Private Passions: Hildegard Bechtler | 8 October 2017
One of our most prolific and successful theatre and opera designers, Hildegard Bechtler, talks to Michael Berkeley about her favourite music and some of the 27 operas she has worked on all over the world.

Hildegard has designed for every major theatre and opera company including the Royal Opera, English National Opera, Glyndebourne and the National Theatre. The international nature of her work is typified by one of her most recent productions, Thomas Adès’ new opera, The Exterminating Angel - staged at the Salzburger Festspiele, Det Kgl Teater, Copenhagen, the Royal Opera House, London and at the Metropolitan Opera, New York.

Sunday Feature: John Tusa’s Opera Journey | 8 October 2017
In this Sunday Feature, Sir John Tusa re-traces his journey through opera, starting with his discovery of the art form as a National Serviceman in post-war Germany. He returns to the three opera houses which shaped his love of the art form in Kiel, Essen and Hannover, exploring his own musical roots and why opera houses continue to thrive in Germany.

Composer of the Week – Puccini | Monday 9 - Friday 13 October 2017
This special edition of Composer Of The Week will feature The Royal Opera House’s Music Director Sir Antonio Pappano, who joins Donald Macleod to explore the life and work of Giacomo Puccini, focussing on a different one of his operas each day.

The Essay | Monday 16 - Friday 20 October 2017
In a special edition of The Essay, five individuals reflect on how they fell in love with opera for the first time. The contributors include journalist and writer Rachel Cooke and award-winning novelist Julian Barnes, who examines how he came to opera through the a bereavement. Actor David Threlfall (best known for portraying Frank Gallagher in the television series Shameless) and writer Garth Greenwell consider the impact of their experiences with the art form, the latter discussing how opera provided him with the "antidote" for his "training" in the ideals of masculinity he was taught growing up in Kentucky.

Novelist Patricia Duncker explores the relationship between opera and the novel as art-forms.

Sunday Feature: The Flappers Guide To The Opera | 22 October 2017
Based on new and original research by cultural historian Dr Alexandra Wilson, this Sunday Feature will recreate the lively operatic scene of 1920s London. Wilson transports listeners back in time and guides them around the diverse spaces where opera was performed, from opulent Covent Garden to flea-infested East End dives, cinemas to restaurants. On their journey, listeners will encounter quirky performance practices and meet a colourful cast of critics, singers and opera-goers. Rich and poor rubbed shoulders at the opera, just as opera itself rubbed shoulders with jazz, music hall, film and celebrity culture.

Opera Vote | 19 October 2017
On 19 October, Radio 3 will give listeners the exclusive chance to vote for the opera they would like to hear broadcast in full on Opera on 3 that evening to round off #OperaPassion day - a day of live streaming involving major cultural institutions and leading opera companies from across the UK.

Audiences will have four operas (all recorded at the Royal Opera House) to choose from: Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Gounod’s Faust, Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman and Puccini’s Tosca, each of which will be championed by a passionate advocate. Voting will open on the 11 October, with the winning opera announced on BBC Radio 3’s flagship drive time programme In Tune on the 19 October.

Related Media Centre Links

• BBC announces major focus on Opera for 2017