Music from Verdi and Wagner will accompany this discussion as cultural historian Peter Conrad talks to literary journalist and broadcaster David Freeman about whether it is possible to like both composers. The two great operatic composers achieved similar things but their personalities and approach to music made them incompatible. Conrad says Verdi and Wagner offer a choice between two kinds of art and two ways of life. And he explains how they each helped to define the identity of their nations.

Conrad is a noted cultural critic. His previous books include A Song of Love and Death: The Meaning of Opera and Modern Times, Modern Places.