We’ll be off to Spain and tilting at windmills on this week’s Sunday Opera (9/15 3:00 p.m.) with Jules Massenet’s “Don Quichotte” from the Lyric Opera of Chicago.  Ferruccio Furlanetto is the fabled knight of the “Woeful Countenance” and Clementine Margaine his Dulcinee.  Along for the ride will be Nicola Alaimo as the faithful Sancho.  Sir Andrew Davies conducts the Lyric Opera Chorus and Orchestra.  Join host Michael Kownacky for an afternoon that will continue with more music of Massenet including his short two-act opera “Therese” featuring Agnes Baltsa and Francisco Araiza.  

We’re going to be showcasing something we think that’s missing in many places on this week’s Dress Circle (9/15 7:00 p.m.): heart.  Our songs with heart come from shows including “Chess,” “Carnival,” “On Your Toes,” “Damn Yankees,” “The New Starlight Express,” and “Tarzan” as well as others including “The Land of Smiles,” “Inside U.S.A.”, “Spring Is Here,” and “Leave It to Me.”   We’ll look at hopeful hearts, stalwart hearts, broken hearts, and giddy hearts, but with everything said and done, we still “gotta have” it.

  As a teenager, Teresa Stratas sang pop songs, but did not study music formally until she saw her first staged opera performance in 1954 when she was 16, La Traviata. That was it, she knew what she wanted, to sing like that. Without ever having a voice lesson, she auditioned for the Royal College of music in her home town of Toronto, with Jerome Kern's "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", the closest thing to a classical piece she knew. But the school saw potential, and gave her a scholarship.

Pablo Casals was a giant-of-an-artist and of a man. He stood up to the Franco regime and refused to perform in countries that recognized Franco’s authority. He rediscovered the Bach cello suites. He played for both Queen Victoria and John F. Kennedy.  He founded the Prades Festival.  He established the Puerto Rico Symphony and Conservatory.  He gave master classes, conducted and recorded at Marlboro.