What happens when a “hometown” commissions an opera about their best known resident? A bit of historical fiction, quite a bit actually, will result, and the output is on this week’s Sunday Opera (1/4 3:00 p.m.) in Alberto Franchetti’s homage to Christopher Columbus to celebrate the 400th Anniversary of Columbus’ voyage and the unification of Italy.

Beginning in November, I thought about looking for a new opera to play as we approached the New Year. However, by the beginning of December, I’d already heard from several people who asked me to repeat Johann Strauss' “Die Fledermaus” because it’s become a part of their family tradition. Who am I to go against tradition? So, on this week’s Sunday Opera (12/28 3:00 p.m.), the all-star “bat” returns!

We have a Christmas favorite on this week’s Sunday Opera (12/21 3:00 p.m.) as we turn to Englebert Humperdinck’s 1892 Marchenoper or “fairytale opera,” “Hansel and Gretel” in an English Translation by Tom Hammond. It features Heidi Grant Murphy and Suzanne Mentzer in the title roles.

Our final production from the Vienna State Opera is the feature on this week’s Sunday Opera (12/14 3:00 p.m.) as we turn to Richard Strauss’ gentle comedy, “Arabella.” The opera is set in Vienna in the 1860s even though it didn’t premiere until 1933.It centers on the Waldner family who are facing bankruptcy because of the father’s (Wolfgang Bankl) gambling. The mother’s (Margaret Plummer) only hope is that one of their daughters, Arabella (Camilla Nylund), will marry a wealthy man.

We’re heading to the Vienna State Opera for Tchaikovsky’s “Iolanta” on this week’s Sunday Opera (12/7 3:00 p.m.) for a story awakening love and sight gained that takes place in the 15th century in the mountains of southern France.

Germanic paganism mixed with some Early Middle Age Christianity and a splash of Greek tragedy is the recipe for this week’s Sunday Opera (11/30 3:00 p.m.) and the Bayreuth Festival’s production of Richard Wagner’s “Lohengrin.”

We’re back at the Bayreuth Festival for the second of three Wagnerian operas on this week’s Sunday Opera (11/23 3:00 p.m.).This time it’s Wagner’s last opera, one that took him 25 years to complete, “Parsifal” which premiered at the second Bayreuth Festival in 1882 and will fill this week’s program.

We’re off to the Bayreuth Festival on this week’s Sunday Opera (11/16 3:00 p.m.) for the first of three works by Wagner: “Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg" which is about a 16th-century singing contest in Nuremberg where young knight Walther von Stolzing (Michael Spyres) hopes to win the hand of Eva Pogner (Christina Nilsson).

The Sunday Opera will be traveling to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) this week (11/09 3:00 p.m.) with George Bizet’s “Les pecheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers)” in a production from the Aix-en-Provence Festival.

We’re showcasing another relatively forgotten opera on this week’s Sunday Opera (11/2 7:00 p.m.) but one that was incredibly popular when it premiered in 1900. About the only thing that’s remembered about Gustav Charpentier’s “Louise” is one aria for the title character titled “Depuis le jour” that appears on many operatic collections and concerts. This production comes from the Aix-en-Provence Festival.