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In a special edition of the programme for the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Opera Season, Sara Mohr-Pietsch looks at opera past, present and future.

Sara meets the mezzo Dame Felicity Palmer who talks candidly about her life in the opera house, why the job of an opera singer is nothing like the glamour that people expect, how she sometimes doesn't feel opera works and why it's great fun to play horrible women.

The Belfast born opera director Annilese Miskimmon talks about the challenges opera faces today - from new audiences and gender inequality to battles between traditionalists and innovators.

We meet creators of the most cutting edge new opera that pushes the medium right to its boundaries - from sonic bicycles with composer Kaffe Matthews, to video games with director Sjaron Minailo, and an opera based entirely on the live sounds of a rock band with Travis Just from Object Collection.

And the opera historian Suzanne Aspden surveys where the operatic landscape is today and the different opera companies vying for our attention. And our money, given opera costs a great deal of money to put on. Alex Beard, Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and Daisy Evans, founder of Silent Opera, talk about how they give audiences the biggest bang for their buck.

Image (c) Johan Persson.