The Lyric Opera of Chicago returns to the Sunday Opera (8/19 3:00 p.m.) with Hector Berlioz’s epic work “Les Troyens” for which he wrote the libretto himself based on Virgil’s retelling of the circumstances surrounding the Trojan War, the “Aeneid.”  Sir Andrew Davis conducts a cast that includes Christine Goerke as Cassandre, Susan Graham as Didon, Brandon Jovanovich as Enee, Lucas Meachem as Chorebe, Christian Van Horn as Narbal, and Okka von der Damerau as Anna.

The first part of our centennial celebration of the life and career of Leonard Bernstein is this week’s Dress Circle (8/19 7:00 p.m.).  Although he is probably best known for his work in the classical music realm, we’ll be focusing on his works for the stage, and this first program will look at a variety of his musicals and will feature performances from “On the Town” (1944), “Peter Pan" (1950), “Wonderful Town” (1953), “Candide” (1956), and “West Side Story” (1957).  For this program, we’ll be featuring original cast, revival cast, and studio cast recordings.  

Ida Rubinstein gained notoriety for her racy sensuality.  She performed the Dance of the Seven Veils in a production of Oscar Wilde’s “Salome.”  Subsequently, she was welcomed into the Ballets Russes, where she assumed the roles of Cleopatra and Scheherazade.  Later, she introduced Ravel’s “Bolero” and Stravinsky’s “The Fairy’s Kiss.”  Hear music for two of her lesser-known characterizations:  “Istar,” the Assyrian goddess of love and war, a work of Vincent d’Indy; and “Semiramis,” the queen with seemingly unquenchable desire, by Arthur Honegger.  Everyone loves Ida, this Sunday at 10 pm.