Edvard Grieg

Once again, we’re getting ready for Valentine’s Day on this week’s Dress Circle (2/8 7:00 p.m.), and even if you don’t have a Valentine per se, you should really treat yourself by tuning in this week for “Non Love Love Songs” for the day that you make as special as you want. These are “Non-Love Love Songs” because they aren’t the usual “Moon – June – Spoon – I love you songs” one generally expects at this time. These, sometimes in a rather sneaky manner, hint or imply love and possible happy endings.

This week's opera comes from London's Royal Opera House and features the first opera in Wagner's "Ring Cycle," "Das Rheingold" featuring Christopher Purves as Alberich and Christopher Maltman as Wotan. The opera, performed in one 150 minute act, will be followed by more music featuring "northern" heroes (and an anti-hero) from Uumo Kalmi, Jean Sibelius, and Edvard Grieg,.

We're continuing our look at musicals written for television with four more - two from 1957 "The Adventures of Marco Polo" which adapted music by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov and "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" which used themes by Edvard Grieg, one from 1958, "Little Women" by Richard Adler, and a version of "Pinocchio" entitled "Geppetto" featuring music by Stephen Schwartz.