I'm with Roger Parker on Don Carlos as the No 1 Verdi opera BBC Radio 3 Record Review (though it would be nice to hear a little more of that crucial French text from the radiant soprano ...)

Is it crunch time for Steven? bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

Lots of Verklärte Nacht BBC Radio 3 this week (BBC Proms & Private Passions with Daniel Handler). Luscious stuff, but I can never forget having to sight-read the Violin 2 part at an unhappy audition for the university orchestra. Sadly, dear reader, I remained untransfigured.

Sean Rafferty tells us that BBC Radio 3 is hoping to get Louis Langrée on In Tune to tie in with Carmen Edinburgh International Festival. This 2018 interview from Opera with Opera News should make good background reading. (I hope I can vouch for the quality of the translation from the original French.)

Was this a joint composition?

A platinum (blonde) record? Jayne Mansfield plays the Vivaldi A minor concerto I used to scratch away at - less glamorously - as a teenager. youtube.com/watch?v=rFEIOO…

Is there any reason why the Radio 4 news just cited "an art gallery at Somerset House" rather than naming the Courtauld Institute? On the other hand, maybe this is a case of smoke without fire.

Even though I know some of the answers, every time I catch this show BBC Radio 4 Extra I feel I am sitting with a bunch of people in someone's college room, drinking terrible coffee and trying not to let on that I am really more of a soul boy. bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00…

Blicke mir nicht in die (Rückert-)Lieder! A bit of mixing and matching needed here to get the right result.

Elementary, my dear Jonny Dymond ... A good sign to hear all the right questions being asked about a new opera The World at One.

Breaking the bank wasn't on the agenda, but I did get to interview Cecilia Bartoli for Opera with Opera News about the 2024-25 season at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, which opens and closes with operas that were premiered in Monaco - and includes Das Rheingold on period instruments.

"Pondering the mystery of the handbag ..." It just has to be Paul Temple BBC Radio 4 extra.

When the tireless and protean Rory Cellan-Jones (known for his close links to #sophiefromromania & linktr.ee/ruskinpark) suggests you repost a video made by the moversandshakerspod team, it's an offer you absolutely can't refuse. Afraid and petrified they ain't. youtube.com/watch?v=QU6BG1…

Stranger than fiction? Do we really need a trailer for a sensationalist thriller in the middle of BBC Radio 4 Today - just before the 8am news headlines?

There's a certain poetry in the fact that the temporary loos Barbican Centre are situated in the space normally occupied by the Fountain Room.

But is Ludwig over the moon about this - or sick as a parrot?

On Schoenberg's 150th birthday, a tribute from Walter Weidringer in Vienna's Die Presse (Excerpt rapidly translated!) diepresse.com/18854947/warum…

The (free) programme notes for London Symphony Orchestra's season-opening concerts make excellent reading. Stimulating, informative and unstuffy without being dumbed-down or patronising. How it should be done.

Soprano Elizabeth Atherton making the case for WNO's chorus and orchestra.

The pen is, like, mightier than the sword.