We have a Christmas favorite on this week’s Sunday Opera (12/21 3:00 p.m.) as we turn to Englebert Humperdinck’s 1892 Marchenoper or “fairytale opera,” “Hansel and Gretel” in an English Translation by Tom Hammond. It features Heidi Grant Murphy and Suzanne Mentzer in the title roles.

The holidays seem to induce memories, and some of them seem to be rather interesting. This is the case with this week’s Dress Circle (12/21 7:00 p.m.) and our playlist of songs from musicals and films that make up some of our holiday memories. Several of these may not be what you might expect.

Music by Heitor Villa-Lobos, John Ireland, Percy Grainger and more.

This concert broadcast Monday (12/15) at the special time of 7 pm kicks off our holiday programming. (Exploring Music will be pre-empted to bring you this special broadcast. You can hear the first episode of this week’s Exploring Music series Tuesday at 7 pm).

Celebrating Beethoven’s birthday this Friday (12/12, rebroadcast Saturday 12/13)

A Tempo Saturday (12/13 at 7 pm) features an interview with conductor Anthony Parnther, who will lead the New Jersey Symphony's performances of The Messiah and the Philadelphia Orchestra's All-Hollywood New Year's concert.

A survey of the French composer's choral output on Sounds Choral this Sunday (12/14 at 2 pm).

Our final production from the Vienna State Opera is the feature on this week’s Sunday Opera (12/14 3:00 p.m.) as we turn to Richard Strauss’ gentle comedy, “Arabella.” The opera is set in Vienna in the 1860s even though it didn’t premiere until 1933.It centers on the Waldner family who are facing bankruptcy because of the father’s (Wolfgang Bankl) gambling. The mother’s (Margaret Plummer) only hope is that one of their daughters, Arabella (Camilla Nylund), will marry a wealthy man.

In the past, we’ve looked at various types of songs found in musicals such as the “I want” songs where a character lets the audience know his or her reasons for doing things. In this week’s Dress Circle (7/14 7:00 p.m.), we’re going to be looking at ‘story songs” which are, oddly enough, songs that tell stories. Sometimes, those stories are life-histories, but many times, they act as allegories.

Works by Schubert, Scriabin and Joplin, as well as by lesser known composers Emil von Sauer and Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji.