Manon Lescaut(1983)

Manon Lescaut(it)

"Manon", wrote Puccini to his publisher Giulio Ricordi in 1889, "is a heroine I believe in and therefore she cannot fail to win the heart of the public." This turned out to be a truly prophetic statement since none of Puccini’s other world successes were received on their first nights as rapturously as Manon Lescaut. The popularity of Puccini’s great masterpiece has never waned and the highly acclaimed Götz Friedrich production at Covent Garden was hailed as an operatic milestone. Two of the world’s leading stars--Kiri Te Kanawa and Placido Domingo--head a strong cast conducted by the brilliant Italian conductor Giuseppe Sinopoli.

Scooby-Doo: Agence toutou risques, vol. 1 : Le voleur de vélo(fr)

The Peasants(az)

A historical revolutionary film depicting the struggle of peasants and the Baku proletariat against landowners and Musavatists in 1919.

Calypso Is Like So(en)

Robert Mitchum lives in a deserted movie set.

Six Hours: Surviving Typhoon Yolanda(en)

In the middle of a broadcast about Typhoon Yolanda's initial impact, reporter Jiggy Manicad was faced with the reality that he no longer had communication with his station. They were, for all intents and purposes, stranded in Tacloban. With little option, and his crew started the six hour walk to Alto, where the closest broadcast antenna was to be found. Letting the world know what was happening to was a priority, but they were driven by the need to let their families and friends know they were all still alive. Along the way, they encountered residents and victims of the massive typhoon, and with each step it became increasingly clear just how devastating this storm was. This was a storm that was going to change lives.

Artist of Fasting(ja)

A wordless man stages an unexplained hunger strike and the people surrounding him exploit his silence to further their own cause...

The Last Runway 2, Commando Yaguareté(es)

Betty Jara reassembles the Yaguareté Commandos to exchange an imprisoned criminal for one of her own agents. A risky operation becomes even more so when she realizes they are not just fighting a drug ring but the highest spheres of power.

The Lottery of Happiness(fr)

Mr Lucas, a grocer, wants to attract the clientele; he imagines a lottery; every week, you can win a bike. It's a big success.

I Was a Teenage Bride of Christ(en)

Part of Matt Mitler and Robert Prichard's Surf Reality Movie of the Month series, this featurette follows marriage-hungry Sarah as she's helped by a magic homeless man to find her true calling. Maybe.

Views on Trial(en)

The demonic Nicholas Diabolus is put on trial accused of interfering with people's lives.

The Dachshund(de)

They’re small, clever, and incredibly strong-willed: dachshunds. Their soulful gaze wins hearts and fuels their lasting popularity. Once royal hunting dogs, they now take on unusual jobs—like Strolchi, a miniature dachshund who sniffs out woodworm in historic buildings. The bond between humans and dachshunds goes back to Celtic times. Archaeologists have even found joint burials of people and dachshund-like dogs. Versatile and charming, they thrive as city pets, hunting companions, and even racers—like those at the annual Wiener Race in Kirchheimbolanden. Beloved far beyond Germany, dachshunds have fans in France too, with events like Paris’s “Sausage Walk.”

Krokiga vägen till Lyckliga gatan(sv)

A film about dreams and opportunities, not about problems.

Betrayal(ro)

After the war, in Bucharest, a young Romanian poet arrested for having written an article denouncing Stalinist crimes, will save his life by accepting to become a hostage of the regime.

Golden Horseshoes(ar)

Youssef Soltane, a 45-year-old Tunisian intellectual, is the product of a generation that lived the era of euphoria and great ideologies in the sixties, and their subsequent failure. He was incarcerated and tortured for his political opinions. Furthermore, his relationship with Zineb, a young, beautiful bourgeois, only brings him more trouble. During one long winter night, Youssef wanders in search of an emotional haven, prey to all the questions that flood his memory.

Donizetti: Anna Bolena(it)

Gaetano Donizetti and his librettist Felice Romani kept the focus of their opera ANNA BOLENA on the personal rather than the political in this fictionalized Tudor tale: Henry VIII of England wants to get rid of his second wife, Anne Boleyn, so that he can marry her lady-in-waiting, Jane Seymour. He brings Lord Richard Percy, Anne's first love, back from exile so that he can find an excuse to accuse her of adultery. With the unwitting aid of Smeaton, a court musician, and Lord Rochefort, Anne's brother, the trap is easily sprung. This 2011 live recording from the Wiener Staatsoper showcases Anna Netrebko as she "scored a personal triumph" in her debut as the hapless Tudor Queen, while her stage partners - notably Elīna Garanča as Jane Seymour and Ildebrando D'Arcangelo as Henry VIII - were likewise showered with critical acclaim.

The Metropolitan Opera: Il Trovatore(en)

Verdi’s IL TROVATORE again storms the Met stage in a star-studded, anvil-wielding cast , including Sondra Radvanovsky, Dolora Zajick and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. Marcelo Álvarez sings Manrico, the troubadour of the title. The story is well-known already: The gypsy Azucena has harbored a grudge for thirty years, but she is about to have revenge at last. Meanwhile, her son Manrico is in love with Leonora, but so is his arch-enemy, the Count Di Luna. A pot-boiler, where every tune is a hit.

Rossini: La Cenerentola(it)

"Irresistible" (Opera News) rising-star mezzo Elina Garanca triumphs as Rossini's Cinderella in this delightful Metropolitan Opera production. "As close to pure joy as you will find in a big-time opera house" (New Yorker), conquering audiences and critics alike, "Garanca has a gorgeous voice that she uses with exceptional skill, melting tenderness; but when the part calls for coloratura fireworks, she unleashes a flawless technique and ringing high notes of impressive power" (Associated Press). Filmed in High Definition Widescreen.

Royal Opera House: The Queen of Spades(ru)

The dark world of Tchaikovsky’s penultimate operatic masterpiece Queen of Spades hinges on obsession, greed, and a secret in winning at cards… In 2005, the Opéra Bastille mounted a compelling production featuring Vladimir Galouzine as the mad lover Hermann, Hasmik Papian as the doomed Lisa, and Irina Bogatcheva as the mysterious Comtesse.

Death in Venice(en)

Benjamin Britten's 1973 opera, performed in 2008 at the Liceu Opera in Barcelona, Spain.

The Barber of Seville(it)

23-year-old Gioachino Rossini completed his masterpiece IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA incredibly quickly – legend has it in just 13 days – which Rossini attributed to ‘facility and lots of instinct’. The opera, characterized by youthful energy and bold wit, has all the ingredients for comic chaos: an imprisoned young woman, her lecherous guardian and a young noble suitor. Skilfully plotting behind the scenes is Figaro, an irrepressible and inventive character in whom many have seen a resemblance to the young Rossini himself. The score fizzes with musical brilliance, from Figaro’s famous entrance aria to the frenzy of the Act I finale. This recording sees Joyce DiDonato (Rosina) bring literal meaning to the old theatrical motto Break a leg! She did just that in an earlier show but was determined to finish her commitment and was re-staged into the production to allow for the additional challenges that come when a leading lady in a lively physical role must wheel around the other performers...

Lohengrin(en)

A short experimental film shot on Super 8, inspired by the music of Richard Wagner.

Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg(de)

In “a Wagner staging to treasure” (The Sunday Telegraph), the 2011 Glyndebourne Festival brings to life the legendary German composer’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Staged by David McVicar, the production features an all-star cast of leads supported by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Vladimir Jurowski.

The Climax(en)

Dr. Hohner, theatre physician at the Vienna Royal Theatre, murders his mistress, the star soprano when his jealousy drives him to the point of mad obsession. Ten years later, another young singer reminds Hohner of the late diva and his old mania kicks in. Hohner wants to prevent her from singing for anyone but him, even if it means silencing her forever.

Der Fliegende Holländer(de)

This vivid film of Wagner's romatic opera succeeds in conveying what has famously been called "the wind that blows out at you whenever you open the score", including Daland's boat anchoring against the Sandwike cliffs, the red-sailed phantom ship, and the ghost crew rising from the dead. "Scenes that recall classic horror films... Brilliantly successful" (Nürnberger Nachrichten), "Captures the works' essence" (Süddeutsche Zeitung). With a superb cast; conducted by Wagner authority Wolfgang Sawallisch.

Zwischenmusik(de)

Wolfgang Sawallisch conducts Hans Werner Henze's opera "Der Prinz von Homburg".

Il Trovatore - Verdi(it)

The gypsy Azucena (Fiorenza Cossotto) takes revenge for her mother who was accused of putting a curse on one of the old Count di Luna's two sons: she decides to abduct the younger child and throw it in the flames. But when she is about to carry out this fatal act, the gypsy sacrifices her own child and keeps the old Count’s son, whom she names Manrico (IL TROVATORE, Plácido Domingo). Later, as adults, the troubadour Manrico and the Count di Luna’s elder son (Piero Cappucilli) do not know each other, but become rivals for the beautiful Leonora (Raina Kabaivanska). Manrico succeeds in winning the young woman’s heart, and she sacrifices herself for him, deceiving the Count’s son. Mad with jealousy, the latter orders the execution of the troubadour in front of his mother. Azucena reveals to him that Manrico was his brother. This legendary performance of Giuseppe Verdi's most successful opera was recorded at the Vienna State Opera under the baton of Herbert von Karajan.

La Divina Commedia Opera Musical(it)

Salzburg Festival 2023: The Greek Passion(de)

Bohuslav Martinů's Greek Passion, which outlines a serious, very topical problem today, which is the position of refugees in a foreign, often hostile environment, is among the composer's most important works in terms of both ideology and art. The English libretto was based on the novel "Christ Recrucified" (1951) by the Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis, which takes place in the first decades of the 20th century in the harsh Greek countryside.

A Night at the Opera(en)

The Marx Brothers take on high society and the opera world to bring two lovers together. A sly business manager and two wacky friends of two opera singers help them achieve success while humiliating their stuffy and snobbish enemies.

Semele(en)

Mythology goes to church in New Zealand Opera's unique, site-specific staging of Handel's baroque masterpiece. This sensual story explores a love triangle between Jupiter, King of the Gods, his wife, the goddess Juno, and his lover, the mortal but overly ambitious princess Semele. This engrossing film of an in-the-round live performance showcases Handel's exquisitely lyrical music and presents a powerful story of ambition that is as relevant today as it was when written nearly three centuries ago.

Andrea Bocelli - A Night in Tuscany(en)

A Night in Tuscany is the first DVD released by Italian singer Andrea Bocelli of a concert held in his native Tuscany, in 1997, highlighting the unique blend of Classical, Pop, and traditional Italian songs that made him a crossover success as an internationally acclaimed tenor. The concert takes place at the Piazza dei Cavalieri in Pisa. Bocelli performs two opera duets with soprano Nuccia Focile during the concert, before singing Miserere with Italian rock star Zucchero, who discovered him, and Time To Say Goodbye with English soprano Sarah Brightman

Tosca(it)

Live Metropolitan Opera performance March, 1985.

La Fille du Régiment(en)

Australian Opera Chorus and Elizabethan Sydney Orchestra production of Donizetti's opera

Verdi: Nabucco(en)

Giuseppe Verdi's opera performed in 1998.