Opera Matinee

A rare chance to hear Reynaldo Hahn's exotic opera The Island of Dreams, plus the BBC Philharmonic in Russian and Finnish music

Hahn's compact first opera tells of the love between a young French naval officer and a beautiful Tahitian woman - a love, though, that can only last for as long as he is stationed on the island

To follow, there's an evocative early symphony from Jean Sibelius from the BBC Philharmonic, which is joined by Canadian violinist James Ehnes for the spiky first concerto by Prokofiev

Presented by Kate Molleson

2.00pm
Hahn
L'île du rêve (The Island of Dreams), a Polynesian idyll in three acts
Hélène Guilmette, soprano - Mahénu
Ludivine Gombert, soprano - Téria, a woman from Tahiti / Faïmana, a noblewoman
Anaïk Morel, mezzo-soprano - Oréna, a Tahitian princess
Cyrille Dubois, tenor - Pierre Loti, in fact Georges de Kerven, an officer in the French navy
Le Concert Spirituel Chorus
Munich Radio Orchestra
Hervé Niquet, conductor

3.05pm
Arensky
Suite No 3 ‘Variations’ Op.33
BBC Philharmonic
Vassily Sinaisky, conductor

3.35pm
Prokofiev
Violin Concerto No.1
James Ehnes (violin)
BBC Philharmonic
Gianandrea Noseda, conductor

4.00pm
Sibelius
Symphony No.2 in D, Op.43
BBC Philharmonic
John Storgards, conductor