The Metropolitan Opera: Die Walküre(2011)

Ashton Celebration(en)

This special program, performed at the Royal Opera House to mark the 25th anniversary of Frederick Ashton's death, presents five works that showcase his astonishing versatility, from compelling abstract ballets - such as the exuberant Voices of Spring and the radically modernist Monotones - to the tragic love story Marguerite and Armand, brought to life with 'performances of heart-wrenching intensity' (The Observer) by Tamara Rojo and Sergei Polunin.

Flying Saucer Rock 'n' Roll(en)

Flying Saucer Rock 'n' Roll, is a 12 minute spoof of a 1950s black and white science fiction B-movie. It was first released in 1997 and starred Ardal O'Hanlon. It was written by Mik Duffy and its director Enda Hughes. The title is taken from the 1957 Rockabilly novelty hit record "Flyin' Saucers Rock 'n' Roll" by Billy Lee Riley and His Little Green Men. O'Hanlan's "rendition" of the song, is performed by producer Michael Hughes.

Alternative(uk)

An instructive parable that the two principles right and wrong have common roots, and their interaction gives rise to unexpected situations that may strongly influence each other. But what will prevail? Friendship, commitment to certain ideals or individual interests, the benefits and the effort to find one’s place under the sun?

My Roasted Chicken(pl)

A young married couple and their everyday hardships. Unemployed Wojtek decides to sell grilled chicken from a street stall. His wife Agata is a film student making a documentary on her husband.

The Revamping of Dracula(en)

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

La Metralleta(es)

Diana González works for the police and successfully eliminates narco dealers. One of the narco bosses, Constantino, decides to punish her by making Diana's sister to use drugs. This poor girl ends up dying in a S&M orgy. Now Diana is going to kill all those who wronged her with her Machinegun (La metralleta) while being pursued by drug dealers and the local police.

Traición por instinto(es)

Train Again(de)

Peter Tscherkassky condenses the long history of railways in the movies into a rousing blast for the senses in a heartfelt tribute to another legend of experimental cinema Kurt Kren.

Without Orders(en)

At Portland, Oregon, playboy pilot Len Kendrick lands at the end of a cross-country record flight, met by his father J.P. Kendrick who owns Amalgamated Air Lines. Len is a media darling, adored by fans for his daring flights. He is in love with Amalgamated stewardess Kay Armstrong who is dating veteran pilot "Wad" Madison. Len dates her sister Penny who learns that his hard-drinking and recklessness has caused the death of his co-pilot. Penny knows that he was drinking before the fateful flight and only escaped prosecution by bribing a bartender. She leaves Len who ends up at Amalgamated as a line pilot, being tutored by Wad.

Dr. Lamb(cn)

An abnormal taxi driver lusts for blood every rainy night, and several young women are killed as a result. The muderer, Laiu, likes to take photos of the victims dismembered bodies as momentos. Inspector Lee is called onto the case in this bizarre thriller.

All That I Have(en)

As a wealthy retired surgeon nears the end of his life, he begins to distribute his wealth to those in need, stating that "all that I have belongs to God." His nephews bring him to court to determine his mental competence in the hopes of stopping him from disposing of all his money.

Voice(sr)

When a man has insomnia, he thinks he can't fall asleep, but why can't he fall asleep, does he hear something disturbing that keeps him awake? Or is there something else?

The Quarry(en)

Fall Break in Knoxville, Tennessee, 2010. Four college students escape for a few days to camp at a local deserted quarry. They were not alone. Their camera was found two days later. The investigation is still open.

Fox Fears(ja)

In the evening of a village festival, a young boy named Bunroku goes to the festival with his friend and visits a clog shop on the way. There he learns an old superstition about the fox.

Alzheimer(hu)

Alzheimer's is a documentary about a disease that affects more and more people. The disease can't be taken lightly. Sadly, Alzheimer's and other dementia affect nearly every family in some way. The most renowned doctors and researchers tell us what they know about the condition so far. The film is also trying to help those who have little or no knowledge of the disease and don't know where to find support. We wanted to show how vulnerable human life can be. Memories, intellect, and personality-all can be lost due to this cruel disease. We don't really understand what happens inside the person or how this disease develops. What we see is the personality disintegrating, and the person becoming 'someone else'. Positive examples are also shown in the film- well-functioning care settings in France and Hungary and loving families caring for their loved ones.

Urumeen(ta)

A freedom fighter betrayed by his best friend is reborn along with him in the modern era and is guided by a magical book that also hints this might not be his second birth.

Karena Kamu Cuma Satu(id)

Binsar, a final year law student, son of Saelan, owner of the Metromini Bus business, recently lost his bus due to traffic violations. Binsar is involved in a complicated love affair with the spinster Sofia, the nephew of the famous Turpin's lawyer. Binsar and Sofia try to return their love in the midst of their respective problems.

Home(en)

A tormented woman believes a rare planetary alignment is actually a cosmic message from her distant interstellar home.

Orlando(en)

Olga Neuwirth, for a long time one of the great composers of the present, succeeds with this opera in creating a captivating arc across many musical genres. It’s an exciting, socially critical production by Polly Graham who puts a fantastically singing and playing Kate Lindsey in the center of the action.

Abesalom and Eteri(ka)

Prince Abesalom runs into an orphaned Eteri while hunting, falls for her and brings the woman to his palace as his fiancé. The Prince’s aid Murman loses his self-control at Eteri’s beauty and gives her a spelled necklace as a wedding gift. Eteri contracts a mysterious disease that only Murman is capable to heal.

Cenerentola - Una favola in diretta(it)

Letní noc(cs)

Pohádky z lesa(cs)

Dalibor(cs)

Dalibor is based on events that took place in the 15th century: having led a peasant revolt, the Knight Dalibor of Kozojedy was imprisoned, by order of King Vladislav II of Bohemia, in a tower in Prague Castle that still bears the name “Daliborka” to this day. Legend has it that he learned to play the violin while he was incarcerated, and that the people passing by the tower would be moved on hearing his music.

The Met — Il Trovatore(it)

Soprano Anna Netrebko appears in her highly anticipated Met role debut as Leonora, the tortured heroine who sacrifices her own life for the love of the Gypsy troubadour. Dmitri Hvorostovsky sings Count di Luna, Yonghoon Lee is Manrico in his Met role debut as the title character, Dolora Zajick sings her signature role of the gypsy Azucena, and Štefan Kocán is Ferrando. Marco Armiliato conducts Sir David McVicar’s Goya-inspired production.

The Metropolitan Opera: Rusalka(en)

Renée Fleming sings one of her signature roles, the title character in Dvořák’s sumptuously melodic Rusalka. The story of the opera, which is about a water spirit’s tragic romance with a human prince, is drawn from several folktale sources including Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid.” Star conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads a cast that also includes Piotr Beczala as the handsome Prince whom Rusalka yearns to love; Dolora Zajick as the cackling swamp witch Ježibaba; Emily Magee as the Foreign Princess, Rusalka’s rival; and John Relyea as Rusalka’s father, the Water Sprite.

Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust(fr)

Radiant mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and dashing Italian tenor Marcello Giordani are unlucky lovers in La Damnation de Faust, Hector Berlioz’s classic take on dancing with the devil.

Tchaikovsky: Iolanta / Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle(ru)

Valery Gergiev conducts Mariusz Trelinski’s thrilling new production of these rarely heard one-act operas. Anna Netrebko stars as the blind princess of the title in Tchaikovsky’s lyrical work, opposite Piotr Beczala as Vaudémont, the man who wins her love—and wakes her desire to be able to see. Nadja Michael and Mikhail Petrenko are Judith and Bluebeard in Bartók’s gripping psychological thriller about a woman discovering her new husband’s murderous past.

Mozart Ascanio in Alba(en)

The most annoing things about this production is that the actors, Voyager I and II, spoke most of the recitatives as the singers on the most part were making hand jestures to go along with the spoken words, and the Voyagers' weird distracting seizure movements, jestures and bodyslamming themselves to the ground while the singers sang. It's amazing how the singers could focus on their arias and keep their composure.

Puccini: Tosca (Arena di Verona)(it)

Puccini’s melodrama about a volatile diva, a sadistic police chief, and an idealistic artist has offended and thrilled audiences for more than a century. Critics, for their part, have often had problems with Tosca’s rather grungy subject matter, the directness and intensity of its score, and the crowd-pleasing dramatic opportunities it provides for its lead roles. But these same aspects have also made Tosca one of a handful of iconic works that seem to represent opera in the public imagination.

The Raft of the Medusa(de)

Hans Werner Henze’s “The Raft of the Medusa” is directly inspired by Théodore Géricault’s famous painting. The German composer sets to music the fate of 150 people who have been shipwrecked and abandoned to their destiny. This is a radical work that fluctuates between hope and inevitability, agony and sudden bursts of life. The Raft of the Medusa is an oratorio that was first performed in 1968. Fifty years on, the Italian director Romeo Castellucci underscores its immense modernity, drawing a striking parallel between Hans Werner Henze’s work and the current migrant crisis in the Mediterranean.

Death in Venice(en)

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

Falstaff(en)

The Graham Vicks production of FALSTAFF opened the new Covent Garden Royal Opera House, and was not to everybody's taste; the garish primary colours of the costumes. The staging is effective--the complicated counterpoint of the ensembles is reflected in unobtrusive blocking that keeps the vocal lines clear and separate, especially in the final fugue. Bryn Terfel's Falstaff is a memorable creation, self-mocking and self-aggrandising at the same time--so much so, in fact, that he almost does not need the vast prosthetic body he has to wear for the part. Desiree Rancatore is an admirably sweet-toned Nanetta; Bernadette Manca di Nissa an appropriately sardonic Mistress Quickly; Roberto Frontali as Ford, in his Act 2 scena, perfectly distils and parodies every jealousy aria ever written, including Verdi's own. Haitink's conducting is exemplary in the lyrical passages, gets almost everything out of the fast and furious comic sections.

Fuoco sacro – Suche nach dem heiligen Feuer des Gesangs(de)

What drives men and women to risk their own lives to save those of others? Fuoco Sacro tells the story of the Vigili del Fuoco, the Italian fire department, and does it through the voices of the people who, over half a century of history, have tackled with competence and a spirit of self-sacrifice the greatest calamities that Italy has tragically had to experience at firsthand.

Maometto secondo(it)

Maometto II (or Maometto secondo) is an 1820 opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Cesare della Valle. Set in the 1470s during a time of war between the Turks and Venetians, the work was commissioned by the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. Della Valle based his libretto on his earlier play Anna Erizo. The name of the title character, Maometto II, refers to the real-life Ottoman Sultan and conqueror of Constantinople Mehmed II, who lived from 1432 to 1481.

Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk(ru)

A stage performance of the Shostakovich opera, filmed at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.

Un Ballo in Maschera - Barcelona(en)

Envy and conspiracy, but also passionate loves, jealousy, revenge and final forgiveness come together in the masterpiece of Verdi, which aroused the anger and prohibitions of censors of the time until the composer and librettist was compelled to make changes in it: from the original Sweden to far away Boston. The great Polish tenor Piotr Beczala returns to the Liceu with one of his opening credits, accompanied by the soprano Keri Alkema. Vincent Boussard’s sets reinforce the dark and mysterious atmosphere surrounding the piece, which features costumes by Christian Lacroix and Vincent Lemaire’s sober staging, which allows one to focus their attention on the dramatic core of the score. The cast, directed by a true specialist like Renato Palumbo, also presents a leader in Verdian song: Dolora Zajick.

Benvenuto Cellini(fr)

Live performance from Salzburg Festival Opera, August 2007. The story tells of Cellini's love for Teresa, daughter of the Papal Treasurer Balducci. His rival, the Papal Sculptor Fieramosca, overhears Cellini plotting to run away with Teresa during the carnival.