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Puccini’s opera, Madama Butterfly, set in Japan, had one of the most disastrous premieres in Italian operatic history, but the first version was certainly not the last. Michael Vinten looks into the… Read more Audio

Wagner ushered in a new musical era and took the human voice to new limits in 1865 with his story of forbidden love. Erica Challis takes us through this great opera. Read more Audio

The fanciful adventures of Cervantes' deluded knight Don Quixote and his hapless squire Sancho Panza have inspired painters, filmmakers, composers and philosophers ever since the Spanish Golden Age… Read more Audio, Gallery

As a pianist, Terence Dennis is widely regarded as New Zealand's finest accompanist for singers. This is attested to by the fact that artists of the highest standing like Kiri Te Kanawa and Bryn… Read more Audio

Elric Hooper and Des Wilson tell the story of Joan Littlewood's 1963 satirical stage show on the First World War. Read more Audio

Since coming to New Zealand in 1993, Roger Lloyd has managed some of this country's finest musical institutions, including the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Wellington, the New Zealand… Read more Audio

Elric Hooper and Des Wilson look at the extraordinary background and life of the award-winning English actor and dramatist Peter Ustinov (RNZ) Read more Audio

There were significant numbers of Germans working as musicians and living here in New Zealand during the 19th century until 1914. Samantha Owens introduces us to a handful of these German immigrants… Read more Audio

German bands hit the world in their thousands during the 19th century and, as if there was something in the water, they all seemed to come from the same small area in Germany. Although forgotten… Read more Audio

Theatre, stage and opera director Sara Brodie talks with Christine Argyle. Read more Audio

Legendary Italian soprano looks back on her life, from her earliest memories as a young girl falling in love with opera, through her thriving career singing some of her most famously acclaimed roles… Read more Audio

Legendary Italian soprano looks back on her life, from her earliest memories as a young girl falling in love with opera, through her thriving career singing some of her most famously acclaimed roles… Read more Audio