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A double bill of rarely heard Rachmaninov operas from the Prinzregententheater in Munich, starring Kristina Mkhitaryan, Andrei Danilov and Kostas Smoriginas.

Not many people think 'opera' when they think of Rachmaninov, but he planned to write at least six of them, though he only finished three. Tonight, we'll hear his first and third operas, whose stories have strong parallels - torrid love triangles and a double murder.

The hero of the 19-year-old Rachmaninov's graduation piece from the Moscow Conservatory, Aleko, loses his gypsy lover Zemfira to a younger tenor, and ends up killing them both. In Francesca da Rimini, to a libretto by Tchaikovsky's brother Modest derived from Dante's Inferno, Francesca falls for her husband Lanceotto's younger brother Paolo, but Lanceotto catches them together during what must be a strong contender for the longest kiss in all opera.

The music, if still audibly influenced by Tchaikovsky himself in Aleko, is full of Rachmaninov's melodic passion, together with a keen sense of drama which he honed as an opera conductor in Moscow in the 1890s.

Presented by Andrew McGregor in conversation with the expert on Russian culture Rosamund Bartlett.

Rachmaninov: Aleko
Aleko ..... Kostas Smoriginas (baritone)
Zemfira ..... Kristina Mkhitaryan (soprano)
Young Gipsy ..... Andrei Danilov (tenor)
Zemfira's father ..... Shavleg Armasi (bass)

c. 7pm
Rachmaninov: Francesca da Rimini
Francesca ..... Kristina Mkhitaryan (soprano)
Paolo ..... Andrei Danilov (tenor)
Lanceotto ..... Kostas Smoriginas (baritone)
Dante ..... Dmitry Golovnin (tenor)
Virgil's ghost ..... Shavleg Armasi (bass)
Bavarian Radio Chorus
Munich Radio Orchestra
Conductor Ivan Repu拧i膰