Rossini’s last opera, written at the age of 37, was his masterpiece Guillaume Tell, which we hear in a recording that features Montserrat Caballé, Mady Mesplé, Nicolai Gedda, and Gabriel
Bacquier.
The landmark 1976 production of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess by the Houston Grand Opera solidified that work’s reputation as the most successful American opera of the 20th century.
In honor of the "Last Night of the Proms," to be heard later this afternoon, we hear music by three prominent English composers: Edward Elgar, William Walton, and Ralph Vaughan Williams.