Verdi: Macbeth(1987)

Bizet Carmen(fr)

This spectacular opera film was taped in 1967 and is based on the 1966 Salzburg Festival production directed by Herbert von Karajan himself, who also conducts the fabulous Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The production features the three greatest exponents of their respective roles at the time: Grace Bumbry’s magnificently seductive-toned Carmen, Mirella Freni’s ineffably lovely, touching Micaëla and Jon Vickers’s thrillingly manic-depressive Don José. On its release the film was hailed by Die Presse, (Vienna) as a “unique artistic event”, while Le Monde felt that Karajan’s production brought “a whole new dimension” to the opera, “combined with a magisterial interpretation”. A classical and utterly dramatic approach to probably the world's most beloved opera – Karajan’s Carmen is as much a delicacy for opera fans as it is a perfect starter for newcomers.

The Peasants(az)

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

3D Saamri(hi)

In a small town a wealthy aged male named Dharmesh Saxena, known for his worship of Devi Maa Kaali, and magic, is called "Saamri". Dharmesh knows that his end is near, he summons his lawyer and wills his entire estate to his niece, Anju Trivedi. But when Mama Taklifchand, Dharmesh's step-brother, finds this out, he, together with a gorgeous young woman, Maria, a hotel owner, Khanna, professor Chatterjee, and others, kill Dharmesh, throw his body in the river, and when the body is found, inform the police and the public that Dharmesh killed himself. With the case closed, Taklifchand & the others must find ways and means to kill Anju and keep the wealth and estate for themselves. Before they could carry out their plan - one by one they start dying horrible deaths. Looks like Saamri has arisen from the grave to hunt down his killers, and there is no one who can even dare to even think of stopping him.

Garden of the Dead(en)

Convicts on a chain gang sniff formaldehyde fumes to get high. They attempt a prison break and are shot down by the guards. After being buried, they rise from the dead, killing all in their path with shovels and hoes.

Il Magnaccio(it)

Italian 60's drama about a pimp called Il Principino and his violent and troubled relationship with a prostitute called Laura.

Skin of a Mandarin(et)

The film delicately follows 25-year-old Anna, whose mother has died suddenly. She wants to send her Orthodox mother on her last journey according to customs, but she runs into bureaucratic rules that do not allow Anna to dress her departed mother herself. This conflict brings her together with Maria, a 45-year-old funeral home worker, who in this story represents the hidden fears of death and grief on a deep emotional level.

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.”

El Asesino del Zodiaco(es)

13(ja)

The film is a continuous time-lapse with multiple exposures of the sunset from the same angle and position on 16mm film. The shoot was done in a span of 5 years. The title 13 is because the time-lapse has a 13-second interval per frame.

Views on Trial(en)

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

Dharmaveer 2(mr)

Explores Anand Dighe's life, tracing his political journey and capturing the essence of his impactful legacy as a prominent figure.

Facing the Void(fr)

In the collective imagination, mountaineering is seen as an elitist and dangerous activity. When the mainstream press talks about mountaineering, it is generally related to a drama or an exploitation. The mountaineers are then placed in two categories. On the one hand, reckless supermen, engaged in a death struggle with the mountains.

Projota - AMADMOL (A Milenar Arte de Meter o Louco)(pt)

Reincarnate(th)

A teacher and his student go on a trip to a magical island where there is urban life and tourist attractions as well as a palace and temples. Moreover, a haunting past still gnaws, spreads, mates and mutates in a loop that cannot be eliminated. It dissolves and mixes with memories affecting the present and possessing a power that can destroy the future. In this vague atmosphere, the place slowly becomes deserted like a nightmare you want to wake from but cannot resist

Como en casa(es)

Mateo is an unscrupulous young real estate agent. He lives in a house where nothing is lacking, but his well-off life will be disturb one morning because of the presence of an intruder.

El cuento del lobo(es)

The Encounter of a Lifetime(ru)

In a professional school a girls and boys brigades are competing to finish the big order in time.

Soft(en)

A father rediscovers his fear of confrontation at the worst possible time.

Phantom(ja)

Takarazuka Revue's Phantom based on the play by Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit.

The Miracle of Heliane(de)

The first-ever audio-visual recording of this opera – directed by Christof Loy, conducted by Marc Albrecht and with Sara Jakubiak, Brian Jagde and Josef Wagner in the leading roles

Death in Venice(en)

Gustav Von Aschenbach, a passionate composer, arrives in Venice as a result of wanderlust and there meets a young man by whose beauty he becomes obsessed.

The Bartered Bride(cs)

Frantisek Filip film version of the Smetana opera.

Rigoletto(it)

This tragic story revolves around the licentious Duke of Mantua, his hunch-backed court jester Rigoletto, and Rigoletto's beautiful daughter Gilda. The opera's original title, La maledizione (The Curse), refers to the curse placed on both the Duke and Rigoletto by a courtier whose daughter had been seduced by the Duke with Rigoletto's encouragement. The curse comes to fruition when Gilda likewise falls in love with the Duke and eventually sacrifices her life to save him from the assassins hired by her father.

The Fiery Angel(it)

Sergey Prokofiev's operatic tragedy The Fiery Angel was never performed in the composers lifetime the musics brittle energy, drama and eloquent lyrical tenderness would re-emerge in his Third Symphony. The narrative focuses relentlessly on Renata, who is haunted by an angel who turns out to be the devil. Director Emma Dante describes the opera as an explosive mix of fantastical realism and endless confusion of nightmares, madness, sexual impulses and cultural clashes, and this Teatro dellOpera di Roma production was acclaimed as a presentation of Prokofievs masterpiece which sparkles in all its grotesque glory (operawire.com)

Bedřich Smetana: Hubička(cs)

Prodaná nevěsta(cs)

The most popular Czech comic opera, with a libretto by Karel Sabina, marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of Bedřich Smetana, in the current production of the National Theater in Prague. For more than 150 years, The Bartered Bride has dominated Czech opera. No one else, not even Smetana himself, has managed to surpass its popularity, which over the years has become part of our national DNA, so to speak. At the time of its creation in the 1860s, however, The Bartered Bride was actually quite a bold experiment – Bedřich Smetana and librettist Karel Sabina masterfully mocked all those who imagined "national opera" as an idyllic picture of the Czech countryside, where national virtues reign supreme.

Tosca(it)

To open its 2019-2020 season, La Scala in Milan has chosen Tosca, in a new production directed by Davide Livermore. The production is part of the rediscovery of Italian opera led by Riccardo Chailly, the conductor of the production and music director of La Scala. He has chosen the original version of Tosca, as created by Puccini in Rome in January 1900, which included eight "additional musical inserts" that were removed from the work after its second performance in Turin in February 1900 and will now be rediscovered for the first time on December 7 at La Scala.

Mozart: Così Fan Tutte (Zurich Opera House)(it)

A production of Mozart's opera recorded live at Zurich Opera House in 2000. Cecilia Bartoli leads an all-star cast including Roberto Saccà, Liliana Nikiteanu, and Agnes Baltsa. The conductor is Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Filmed live at the Zurich Opera House in February 2000 on a set which visualises the subtitle "The School for Lovers", the plot revolves around two army officers arguing about the fidelity of their brides, then setting out to test their chastity. Despite the often playful humour, this is not only psychologically telling music-making, but reveals Mozart exploring the structure of opera, discarding convention to mix large ensemble sections with arias for as many different combinations of singers as possible. With Liliana Nikiteanu attractively contrasted with Bartoli, and thoroughly convincing performances by Roberto Sacca (Ferrando) and Oliver Widmer (Guilelmo), this Così has a freshness and flow which, coupled with the timeless romantic themes, feels very contemporary.

Primadonna or Nothing(en)

From the first steps of an emerging singer to the final bow of a celebrated soprano, 'PRIMADONNA OR NOTHING' follows three relentless women who sacrifice everything to be an opera star.

Lumee's Dream(en)

Lumee, one of the two main characters (of the opera p r i s m), sings this aria while smoking outside a nightclub in the second act, providing a window into her selfish fantasies. Not a recorded section of the opera, but a companion piece meant to depict the character's imagined realities.

Death(en)

An operatic film adaptation of the poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar of the same name.

Gallup (Na'nízhoozhí)(en)

Two mystical beings emerge from the scenery, embarking on a journey through Gallup— Na'nízhoozhí in the Navajo language— before melting back into the desert at nightfall.

Brown Sounds(en)

This short begins with a pair thriving in a lush paradise representing the Garden of Eden. The pair are suddenly uprooted and driven to the unknown: the original sin of slavery. In the end, they dig their roots into the soil and stretch their limbs to the sun, finding new identities, new truths and new power.

The Five Moons of Lorca(es)

A short opera about the assassination of poet and dramatist Federico García Lorca at the hands of Nationalist forces at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.

William Tell(fr)

“Let us assume that Switzerland is truly a paradise. The music hereto was written long ago. We have merely forgotten it.” (Daniel Schmid) This is the material from which the most Swiss of all operas is made: the legendary Wilhelm Tell – a Swiss hero: straightforward, a primus inter pares of the indomitable freedom fighters, a good shot, surefire. A myth that becomes a poetic playground: nature in turmoil, the struggle for freedom and forbidden love. A legendary overture at a gallop with an iconic post horn motif – all this and much more in the thirty-seventh and last opera by Rossini.

Rigoletto(it)

A musical drama based on Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto.

Tamerlano(en)

Handel's 1724 opera Tamerlano followed the success of his previous year's Giulio Cesare with another colourful historical costume drama. This time the setting is the court of "Timur the Tartar", who has just defeated the Turkish Sultan Bajazet at the battle of Angora. There are, naturally enough, romantic complications when both Tamerlano and his ally, the Greek Prince Andronico, fall in love with Bajazet's daughter Asteria. She, however, has plans to revenge her father's defeat. This production was directed by Jonathan Miller and staged in the intimate surroundings of the Goethe Theatre of Bad Lauchstadt as part of the 2001 Halle Handel Festival.

Don Giovanni(it)

Live performance from Cologne Opera. Conlon conducts a skittishly dynamic performance of Don Giovanni. He relies on Thomas Allen’s tough Don to give the work much of its dark menace and on Holle’s terrifying Commendatore to provide the moral outrage – his job is to keep things moving, and he does. The exteriors – blank city spaces reminiscent of the paintings of Giorgio De Chirico – and moodily claustrophobic interiors mirror effectively the anguish of the orphaned Anna and the abandoned Elvira; this is a performance in which the two women victims of the Don function effectively as correctives to his libertine charm. Andrea Rost as Zerlina brings real delicacy to her role, reminding us that “La ci darem la mano” is a duet about her flirtation with Don Giovanni and not just a famous stand-alone moment. This is an admirable presentation of a fine performance.