Renowned baritone Roderick Williams picks his top ten highlights from over three centuries of opera in Britain and discovers what our opera story can tell us about British identity.

Britain has often held an ambivalent attitude towards opera. At many points over the last 350 years, sung dramas have spoken to and for a mass audience. At other times we’ve viewed opera as elitist and foreign. In this three-part series we'll see how, throughout that history, the changing place of opera in British culture tells a revealing story about who we are.

In the second episode, Roderick takes us into the heart of the 19th century. Britain is at the height of her world power and opera theatres are packed to the rafters, but the shows are not our own. We'll hear how Verdi's La Traviata causes a scandal as it strikes a chord with women, and how with Bizet's Carmen, grassroots touring companies finally get opera out to the provincial masses. Then one local duo spots a gap in the market. Might witty tunesmiths Gilbert and Sullivan help us find our national voice?

With contributions from musicologist Susan Rutherford, cultural historian John Woolf, conductor Sir Mark Elder, soprano Soraya Mafi, film and stage director Mike Leigh, performance historian Eleanor Lybeck and soprano Danielle de Niese.

Produced in Cardiff by Chris Taylor and Amelia Parker Show less