The Metropolitan Opera: Madama Butterfly(2024)

The Metropolitan Opera: La Cenerentola(en)

Rossini’s charming take on the Cinderella story features a brilliant cast, led by bel canto stars Joyce DiDonato in the title role and Juan Diego Flórez as her Prince Charming. Alessandro Corbelli delivers a comic tour de force as Don Magnifico, Cinderella’s stepfather. Pietro Spagnoli is Dandini, the Prince’s valet, who, disguised as his master, puts the prospective brides to the text, and Luca Pisaroni is the philosopher Alidoro, who takes the place of the fairy godmother. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi leads Cesare Lievi’s whimsical production.

ولاد صقر ٣ الا تلت(en)

Two Brothers Facing A Drug Dealer With A Bad Cop

Siempre la duda(es)

Michael Lives Alone(en)

A young photographer's home is haunted by it's former residents.

The Daddy's Meat(ru)

A gloomy tale or a completely innocent family picnic on the open air ...

Birds Do It(en)

Melvin Byrd, who dreams of being a scientist, is a Cape Kennedy "miniscule molecular particle surveillance monitor" - in short, a janitor. His job is to keep a major rocket project completely dust-free, and this he does with his own hilariously fantastic inventions - including a literal attack on dirt by a "knight on a white horse". In his work, he meets Judy, a chimp involved in a top-secret project, which leads Melvin into the one room strictly off-limits to him. Not until he has entered the project room does Melvin learn that any man entering it will be negatively ionized - making him fly like a bird.

Baignade de nègres(fr)

A group of black youths jumping from a dock into the water.

The Ultimate Degenerate(en)

Man drugs, photographs & tortures women he meets by personal ads.

The Revamping of Dracula(en)

A behind-the-scenes look at the making of "Dracula" (1979).

Night of Violence(it)

Carla Pratesi, a prostitute, is killed. Her death is followed by a number of attempted murders. Carla's sister undertakes her own investigation. Police enquiries uncover a drugs trade connected to a call-girls organization but the murderer remains at large. Finally, a witness identifies the killer as a well-known actor. However, he has a strong alibi (he was shooting a film). The following night, a girl who manages to escape from the maniac's clutches swears he is a different famous actor but he turns out to have a strong alibi too! Eventually the police set a trap in the park and, with the help of Carla, kill the madman. It emerges he had been disfigured by the atomic blast at Hiroshima and went crazy because his disformed features revolted women and but them off having sex with him. He created masks reproducing the features of handsome actors just to approach prostitutes!

Team GeoTrax - All Aboard(en)

Join Team GeoTrax on four exciting adventures in GeoTown as the meet new members of the team and learn the importance of working together.

Limit Up(en)

Casey is the assistant of commodity trader Peter Oak, but wants to get a license herself. When the diabolic Nike appears and promises to make her successful by use of her supernatural abilities, Casey hesitantly accepts. By correctly predicting the price of soy beans, she manages to make a career, but the price that Nike demands is high: she wants Casey's soul!

The Masseuse(cn)

The Masseuse is a science fiction love story set in a futuristic Kuala Lumpur between a humanoid masseuse and her technician who has a disturbing past.

Fun(en)

Hillary and Bonnie meet one morning by the side of the road. They become fast friends, share their secrets, and, on a rising wave of frenzy, later that afternoon, murder an old woman. They did it, they say later, for fun.

The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery(en)

Film noir parody with a private eye trying to solve the murder of his milkman.

Los desesperados(es)

Mexican feature film

Kultur Shock!(en)

Three injured, amnesiac, American immigrants named Red, White, and Blue are trapped in a small room and given “lessons” by a Uncle Sam carving with a radio in it. The doll demands order and the attention of its students, while leaving them in the dark about what happened to them, where they are, and exactly what the explosions and noises they hear outside are.

Safety Second(en)

It's Independence Day, and Jerry's little nephew, Nibbles, wants to celebrate with fireworks, while Jerry reminds him to "keep it safe and sane." Initially, this backfires against Jerry, as his attempts to dispose of the firecrackers Nibbles lights explode in his face, but ultimately, Nibbles saves Jerry from Tom with the usual cartoon uses of black powder.

Berg: Lulu(en)

Since its premiere on 2 June 1937 in Zurich, Alban Berg's second opera "Lulu" has the reputation of being surrounded by scandals. On the one hand, this is due to the dubious character of the subject, the man-eating femme fatale, which Berg had taken from Frank Wedekind's two Lulu tragedies – "The Earth Spirit" and "Pandora's Box" – and combined into one opera libretto. On the other hand, Berg's window had (for personal reasons) repeatedly refused to have the opera completed, which was unfinished when Berg died. This video is of the unfinished two-act torso of "Lulu."

Turandot(it)

Valery Gergiev leads the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in this production of Puccini's opera, recorded live at the Salzburger Festspiele in 2002. David Pountney's production features performances by Gabriele Schnaut, Paata Burchuladze, Johan Botha and Cristina Gallardo-Domas. This production uses Luciano Berio's 2001 completion of this unfinished opera.

Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk(ru)

A young woman, married to a wealthy man, but miserably lonely; trapped within a world ruled with an iron fist. Katerina is driven by a lust for life and for love. Her husband, though, is impotent; her father-in-law a tyrant. No wonder, then, that she longs to free herself from this yoke. When Sergei starts work on the family estate, she sees in him a chance for salvation. However, their subsequent affair marks the beginning of a descent into crime.

Monteverdi - L'Incoronazione Di Poppea(en)

This is a finely tuned opera with music by the Italian composer, Claudio Monteverdi, libretto by G. E. Busenello, and the fine voices of contralto Maria Ewing, baritone Dennis Bailey, and several other sub-leads is not to be missed and will be fully enjoyed. No lead tenor here and none needed. No soprano here as a lead and none needed. One of the joys of my watching and listening outside the opera hall. The story line is strong and the tale well carried out.

San Francisco Opera: Verdi's Rigoletto(en)

One of opera's most vivid and compelling characters, a vengeful court jester, desperately tries to protect his daughter from disaster in this heart-wrenching tragedy. The first of two world-class casts led by Music Director Nicola Luisotti stars Željko Lučić, "whose vocal artistry is exceptional" (The New York Times); Aleksandra Kurzak, "a superstar in the making" (The Guardian, London); and, as the lecherous Duke, Francesco Demuro, "whose open, bright, superbly focused tone was reminiscent of Pavarotti" (Opera News).

Aida - Arena di Verona(it)

The grand scale and magnificent acoustics of the Roman arena in Verona are ideally suited to the pageantry of Verdi's Egyptian opera, presented here in a staging that is true to the original 1913 production, framed by obelisks and sphinxes and filled with chorus and dancers. Chinese soprano Hui He has won international acclaim for her portrayal of the eponymous slave girl whose forbidden love for the war hero Radamés (Marco Berti, the experienced Verdi tenor) brings death to them both.

Manon Lescaut(it)

The story of the star crossed love between Manon Lescaut and Des Grieux.

La Clemenza di Tito(it)

This is an effective staging, though the set looks medieval and the costumes are modern. It’s well paced, well played, well sung. Jonas Kaufmann is an ideal Tito. His voice is not only beautiful and flexible, it’s also ample, retaining warmth and sweetness when he sings out. The character of Tito is too good to be true, but Kaufmann makes him intense, noble, and beliveable. Vesselina Kasarova is riviting as Sesto. Her voice is gorgeous and multi-colored, her technique exquisite, her immersion in the role complete.

Love Affairs and Heartbreaks(el)

This first film of Cyprus' first director, Giorgios Filis, depicts music and dance customs in the form and style of a folk opera, with traditional Cypriot dances and songs. The film consists of a folkloric inventory based on the folk culture of Cyprus, as well as on similar ritual happenings. The narration and dialogue are entirely in the Cypriot dialect and are characterized by a rhetorical and poetic mood.

Marco Polo (An Opera Within an Opera)(en)

Tan Dun portrays the Venetian explorer's travels to the Far East as a journey of both inner and physical discovery, a voyage depicting spiritual experiences as well as a geographical expedition. Pierre Audi's mythical staging and Jean Kalman's fabulous set design complement the composer's own musical direction, forging the dazzlingly versatile soloists, the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and Cappella Amsterdam to a stunning symbiosis of elements across time and space, a true testimony to cultures intertwined in globalization.

Madama Butterfly(it)

Opera at La Scala Milan

Macbeth(it)

This hard-edged postmodern production of Giuseppe Verdi's haunting masterpiece brings the story of Shakespeare's bloody tragedy to vivid life, characterized by spine-tingling atmospherics and a triumphant debut by American baritone Thomas Hampson in the title role. This Zurich Opera House production also features a mesmerizing turn by Paoletta Marrocu as the beautiful, power-hungry Lady Macbeth, while striking sets and costumes further enhance the duality of the main character whose rise and fall mirror the darkest impulses of man. Replete with supernatural mystery, sexual tension, and violent power plays, this timeless story remains gripping and chilling for today's audiences and boasts some of the most astonishing music of Verdi's legendary body of work.

Verdi Macbeth Chailly(it)

Claude D'Anna's film of Verdi's Macbeth is a gloomy affair, stressing the descent into madness of the principal villains. It's acted by the singers of the Decca recording of the opera (with two substitutions of actors standing in for singers) and the lip-synching is generally unobtrusive. The musical performance is superb, conducted by Riccardo Chailly with admirable fire, and sung by some of the leading lights of the opera stages of the 1980s. Shirley Verrett virtually owned the role of Lady Macbeth at the time, and she delivers a terrific performance, the voice equal to the role's wide register leaps and it's suffused with emotion, whether urging her husband on to murder or maddened by guilt in the Sleepwalking Scene. Leo Nucci's resonant Macbeth may lack the ultimate in vocal color and steadiness (his last notes of the great aria Pietà, rispetto, amore are wobbly) but he compensates with intensity in both singing and acting.

Mozart Apollo et Hyacinthus(en)

First of all it is impossible to conceive of the creative genius who wrote this music when only [...]. Add to this the outstanding musicianship of the young singers/actors and orchestra members.Christiane Karg has a voice that is pure beauty; her range, precision and her ability to convey tremendous emotion are astounding.Her aria "Laetari, iocari" is a tour de force, tossed off with the greatest ease. Then there is the beautiful duet she sings with Maximilian Kiener. This is to die for! The staging, the singing and the acting are of an extremely high level. On the second disc Christiane Karg plays a totally different character, wily and playful, but oh, that voice!

Lili Elbe(en)

The painter Lili Elbe was the first person to have gender confirmation surgery in the 1930s. The homonymous opera is a glimpse into the life of Lili Elbe and her wife Gerda Wegener (also a famous painter) through Lili's transition at a time when such surgery was still completely uncharted territory.

Arthur(en)

Clay animation film by Guionne Leroy, based on the music of Henry Purcell's opera "King Arthur"

Puccini: Gianni Schicchi(it)

Opera in one act, libretto by G. Forzano based on Dante's Divine Comedy. Third part of his opera Triptych. The plot is based on canto XXX of "Inferno" from "The Divine Comedy", which are dedicated to the rogue and deceiver Gianni Schicchi, who was punished for his sins: he impersonated a dying rich man in order to make a forged will on his behalf. Gianni Schicchi is Puccini's only comic opera, a brilliant example of a modern opera buffa based on the tradition of Verdi's Falstaff. The most expressive recitative, bubbling melody, sharp character, impetuous tempo distinguish her music. Recorded live at Glyndebourne Opera House, Sussex, UK on 11 July 2004.

The Newspaper(it)

The writer Dario Fo applies his inventive genius to Rossini's comic opera in its premiere DVD release. Recorded in 2005 under the musical direction of Maurizio Barbacini, Fo's production brings fresh vitality and colour to the story of Lisetta, and of her father Don Pomponio's increasingly ridiculous attempts to find a husband for her through an advertisement in the newspaper LA GAZZETTA. Filmed using high definition cameras with multitrack sound.

Amor, vida de mi vida: Zarzuelas(en)

The many passionate, fiery or lyrical vocal pieces of Spanish zarzuela have continued to thrive in concert and recitals all over the world. One of the most renowned and ardent supporters of zarzuela melodies is Plácido Domingo. Belying his 66 years, the world-famous tenor sings these rousing, seductive melodies with the beguiling sweetness of a much younger man and tranports the enraptured listener to the calles and plazas of Madrid and Seville, Domingo is accompanied by Mozarteum Orchestra underJesús López Cobos and, above all, by his partner for the evening, sprano Ana Maria Martínez, "a beautiful woman with a fascinating voice, full of velvety mezzoish half-tints in the middle and bottom ranges, with a gleaming top." (London Times) Martínez and Domingo serve up an evening of infectious good spirits and exquisite vocal treats."The dazzle of genuine stars shone brightly over Salzburg!" (Die Welt)

Adolphe Appia Visionary of Invisible(fr)

The life and work of stage designer ADOLPHE APPIA, originator of the most profound agitations in contemporary theatre. Through the dynamic alternation of animated drawings and choreographies specially conceived for the film, we discover the steps of his artistic evolution.