Upcoming and Noteworthy

A wide variety of piano preludes, this Friday (9/4, rebroadcast Saturday 9/5)

Johann Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus”? … and it isn’t anywhere near New Year’s Eve! We are, however, going to Vienna for a recent production of this beloved favorite on this week’s Sunday Opera (9/6 3:00 p.m.).

As usual, we’re showcasing some of the musicals that opened this month on this week’s Dress Circle (9/6 7:00 p.m.). Since there hasn’t been a new musical open since 2020, we thought we’d do something a little different. We’re still looking at overtures and opening numbers, but this time, we’re focusing on eight operettas.

Seldom heard piano concertos, this Friday (8/28, rebroadcast Saturday 8/29)

The age-old story of boy gets girl, boy loses girl, and boy poisons girl is featured on this week’s Sunday Opera (8/30 3:00 p.m.) in Giuseppe Verdi’s “Luisa Miller” in a production from the Vienna State Opera.

Many of us grew up with the soothing songs of Burt Bacharach who has been called “The King of Easy Listening.” At the time of his passing in 2023, he had amassed 73 Top 40 hits in the U.S. and 52 in the United Kingdom. His songs also appeared in eight productions on Broadway as well as in 772 film and television soundtracks, and on this week’s Dress Circle (8/30 7:00 p.m.) we’re going to sample just a few of them.

Exploring musical suites, this Friday (8/21, rebroadcast Saturday 8/22)

A Tempo Saturday (8/22 at 7 pm) features a conversation with pianist, actor and playwright Hershey Felder, who has created a series of stage and film productions about the lives of great pianists and composers.

We’re continuing our summer tour of European opera houses on this week’s Sunday Opera (8/23 3:00 p.m.) with a trip to the Bavarian State Oper and their recent production of Charles Gounod’s 1859 grand opera, “Faust.” The libretto follows an aging scholar who trades his soul to the devil for youth and love. Rejuvenated, Faust seduces and abandons the innocent Marguerite, leading to a tragic spiral of murder, madness, and her ultimate redemption and salvation.

In “The Prates of Penzance,” Kate sings: “Let us shut our eyes and talk about the weather” in order to avoid a “complication.” On this week’s Dress Circle (8/2 7:00 p.m.), we’ll approach the weather with eyes wide open as we look at the recent spate of storms the easter seaboard has been facing this summer through thirteen musical storms.