This week's opera is Meyerbeer's 1856 Work that looks at Peter the Great as he tries to win Catherine for his wife and includes all sorts of trials that are overcome for a happy ending.

This week's program features a complete recording of Kalman's operetta "The Duchess of Chicago" and highlights of "Countess Maritza" to celebrate the wonderful work of this often forgotten composer.

We're turning to the music of Rameau this week and an excellent recording of the 1744 version of "Dardanus" about the trials of the son of Electra and Jupiter (Zeus) as he expands his empire and wins his love.

This week's program features a "dream" cast for Ponchielli's "Gioconda" in a live recording from 1967. Renata Tebaldi is the street singer Giaconda, Carlo Bergonzi is the man she loves, Enzo, Marilyn Horne is the woman who is loved by Enzo, Laura, and Robert Merrill is the treacherous spy for the Inquisition, Barnaba.

This week's Sunday Opera feature Thomas' adaptation of Shakespeare's masterwork, but this one has a moderately happy ending. The opera features Thomas Hampson, June Anderson, and Samuel Ramey. After the opera, we'll hear Thomas' String Quartet No. 1 in E.

This week's wonderful comedy from Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari is based on a play by Italian genius Carlo Goldoni and comes to us from a live 2007 recording made at La Fenice in Venice.

Hans Pfitzner is all but forgotten in the United States, but his operas are still performed in Europe, and you've already heard one of his works on the Sunday Opera during Christmases past - "Das Christ-Elflein." This week, we're looking at his most successful opera, "Palestrina" which is loosely based on the life and musical importance of the 16th century Italian composer who ensured the use of polyphonic music in the Catholic church.

This week's opera is one of the finest representatives of French Baroque, Charpentier's "Medee" with a stellar cast headed by Lorraine Hunt and Mark Padmore. The recording is from 1994 & 1995.

This week's program is about two tricksters. The first is from Haydn's forgotten 1777 comedy "The World on the Moon," and the second is the ballet by Sibelius about Scaramouche which has a tragic ending.