Here is a half hour of music from the world of grand opera, presented by outstanding singers of The Broadway Opera Company, backed by Nathaniel Shilkret’s Symphonic “Pops” Orchestra. The vocal selections are rendered in modern, up-to-date English, an innovation that will enhance the enjoyment of these ageless melodies for many listeners. The lively overture to Pergolesi’s 1732 comic opera ‘The Brothers In Love’ serves as a sprightly curtain raiser to the four exciting excerpts from Puccini’s ‘La Bohème’ which occupy the first half of the program. The sequence also highlights the contrast between Pergolesi’s baroque spirit and Puccini’s fervent and full-blooded romanticism. ‘La Bohème’ is the touching and tender love story of two young Parisians of the Latin Quarter: Rodolfo, the poet, and Mimi, the seamstress. Part I presents an abbreviated version of the lovers’ first meeting and includes Rodolfo’s Narrative and the love duet which closes the first act. Part II includes orchestral music and the famous Musetta’s Waltz from the second act’s lively panorama of Montmartre. In Part III we hear the beautiful reconciliation scene between the lovers, followed by their bitter-sweet farewell. Part IV is an orchestral fantasy of the opera’s principal melodies, concluding with the tragic music of Mimi’s death scene, the end of the opera. John Crain and Yvonne Ciannella are the vocal soloists in these excerpts. The second half of the program opens with selections from Gaetano Donizetti’s charming comic opera (1832) ‘L’Elisir D’Amore’ (The Elixir Of Love). It is the story of a simple country boy who wins the object of his affections after buying some red wine from a lovable quack called Dulcamara, in the belief that it is a magic love potion. Dulcamara’s amusing sales patter is sung by bass-baritone Jimi Beni. He is joined later in the duet, How He Loved Me by Yvonne Ciannella and in the comic sequence, Thank You, Thank You, by John Druary, impersonating Adina and Nemorino, the opera’s lovers. The concluding two excerpts of this program are taken from Leoncavallo’s tense, realistic ‘I Pagliacci.’ In this opera, a day of tragedy is depicted among the itinerant actors in turn-of-the-century Italy. After an orchestral fantasy of the principal themes, John Crain sings the heart-rending Laugh Clown, which expresses the despair of a man destined to make people laugh over his own heartbreak.