Saturday April 17th - From the Archives of The Metropolitan Opera, New York: Puccini's La Boheme

Puccini’s most popular opera stars Dmytro Popov as the poor poet Rodolfo who falls head over heels for his neighbour, the seamstress Mimì, sung by the radiant Angel Blue. Susanna Phillips is the flirtatious Musetta, Lucas Meachem is her sweetheart Marcello, and Duncan Rock as Schaunard and David Soar as Colline complete the ensemble. Alexander Soddy conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus. (Angel Blue as Mimi and Dmytro Popov as Rodolfo in Puccini's La Bohème. Photo: Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera)

Saturday April 24th - From the Archives of The Metropolitan Opera, New York: From the House of the Dead by Leos Janacek

This week's opera from the Met is Janacek's final opera, From the House of the Dead, based on Dostoyevsky's novel. The opera is set in a prison and focuses on the daily lives and pasts of its various inmates such as Shishkov, imprisoned for murdering his wife, and the wrongly imprisoned young Tatar Alyeya. Through their bleak existence, hope is given to the inmates by the defiance of an injured eagle, captive with them. The cast includes Willard White, Kurt Streit and Peter Mattei and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus is conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.

And in the second part of tonight's programme we hear Opera Theatre Company's production of Dubliners by Andrew Synnott, a premiere recording from the Wexford Festival Opera 2017. (Pictured - Cormac Lawlor in Dubliners)