Giuseppe Verdi - La Forza del Destino(2024)

Giacomo Puccini - Il Trittico(it)

Finding the right librettos was not easy, but one month after the end of the First World War, his triptych – the grim tragedy Il tabarro, the lyrical and sensitive Suor Angelica, and the comedy Gianni Schicchi – premiered in New York. Three different eras, three different settings, three different ‘colours’; though for Puccini, it is through the contrasts between them that the unity of the work is revealed. For his second time directing at La Monnaie, Tobias Kratzer preserves the original order of the pieces, while weaving them together to form a narrative whole, like a circle with no end. With a cast of artists from the extended La Monnaie family, Alain Altinoglu is the ideal conductor to meet the daunting challenges posed by this triptych.

The Way to the Heart(en)

Ava, an award-winning chef at a big-city restaurant, has lost her spark. Her boss sends her out to find herself to save her menu and her job. She returns home and finds little to inspire her, but when she reunites with her childhood friend Logan, Ava has to get her head out of the clouds and her foot out of her mouth to rediscover her passion for food.

Kill Shot(en)

Posing as hunters, a group of terrorists are in search of $100 million that was stolen and lost in a plane crash en route from Afghanistan.

The Secret Six(en)

Bootlegger/cafe owner, Johnny Franks recruits crude working man Scorpio to join his gang, masterminded by crooked criminal defense lawyer Newton. Scorpio eventually takes over Frank's operation, beats a rival gang, becomes wealthy, and dominates the city for several years until a secret group of six masked businessmen have him prosecuted and sent to the electric chair.

Aavas(en)

Aavas is a nepali music video about love

Succubus(en)

A new father going through a marital separation joins a dating app and matches with a beautiful but mysterious young woman... whose powers of seduction and manipulation entangle him in a mystery more horrifying than he could have ever imagined.

L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui(en)

Regarding Le Corbusier: the man and his architecture

9 ½ Minutes(en)

An adult animated movie about gender relationships.

Wierook en Tranen(nl)

A movie based on the novel of Ward Ruyslinck.

Catastrophe(en)

A film cataloguing some of the world's largest catastrophes.

The Roundup(en)

Originally written as a stage vehicle for corpulent character actor Macklyn Arbuckle, Ernest Day's The Roundup was first filmed in 1920 with Fatty Arbuckle (no relation) in the lead. By the time the film was remade in 1941, Arbuckle's character, a roly-poly frontier sheriff named Slim (!), was refashioned as a supporting role, with Jack Benny's radio announcer Don Wilson essaying the part. The plot, however, remained fairly intact: Upon hearing that her fiance Greg (Preston Foster) has been killed, Janet (Patricia Morison) agrees to marry rancher Steve (Richard Dix) on the rebound. On the day of the wedding, who should show up but Greg, determined to raise as much Hell as humanly possible

The Have Not(en)

After a failed relationship, a deadbeat man tries to live off the land in a beach town on Long Island.

The Making of Disneyland Indiana Jones Adventure(en)

The Making of Disneyland’s Indiana Jones Adventure introduced the world to the latest Disneyland attraction. The show was hosted by Michael Eisner and included Karen Allen and John Rhys-Davies. Celebrity appearances include George Lucas, Dan Aykroyd, Fran Drescher, and Jodie Sweetin. We also hear from the imaginers that work on Indy, including Tony Baxter.

Nebraska Supersonic(en)

Three friends in Omaha, NE start a bicycle courier service.

Spanola Pepper Sauce Company(en)

This heartwarming story explores the life of Tookie Spanola, the founder and owner of the Spanola Pepper Sauce Company, and some of the changes that have taken effect during his tenure.

Flashout(en)

Three young women from a parallel universe play a blind date reality game that culminates in the euphoric Flashout. They get trapped on unfamiliar planet Earth by a reality repairman who must destroy their pleasure-filled game before the Multiverse is permanently altered.

La quinta dimensión(es)

Till Death Shall We Start(cn)

David died a virgin, and the Doomsday Book says a virgin ghost has no right for reincarnation until he deflowers a human virgin. So David assumes the human shape and goes after Yen. Yen's boyfriend finds out that David is a ghost and warns her, but she doesn't listen. It's now up to him to protect her--against her will--from the sneaky and sex-crazed ghost of David.

¿Quién mató a Mariano Ferreyra?(es)

The journalist Andrés Oviedo must write about the murder of a young political activist Mariano Ferreyra for the magazine where he works. Oviedo performs a series of interviews and dialogues with familiars and friends of Ferreyra. The search for the truth and the motifs of the crime lead him to confront his publishers, who removed him from the case. In front of the arising complications, Andrés doubts to proceed with the investigation, but the support of his daughter, of the same generation as Mariano, helps him to continue. (FILMAFFINITY)

DVD HCFR(fr)

Carmina Burana: Dancing in Defiance(nl)

A live recording of Carl Orff's world-famous musical masterpiece Carmina Burana, performed by more than 100 singers and dancers of the National Opera and Ballet of Ukraine (Odessa).

The Phantom of the Opera(en)

The deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House causes murder and mayhem in an attempt to make the woman he loves a star.

The Metropolitan Opera: The Tempest(en)

Composer Thomas Adès conducts the Met premiere of his powerful opera based on Shakespeare’s last play, in Robert Lepage’s brilliantly inventive production. Simon Keenlyside is the magician Prospero, who conjures the storm that shipwrecks his enemies and sets in motion the course of events. Rising Met stars Isabel Leonard and Alek Shrader are the young lovers, Miranda and Ferdinand, Alan Oke sings the sinister Caliban, and Audrey Luna gives a memorable performance as the sprite Ariel.

The Metropolitan Opera: Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci(it)

Director David McVicar’s new production brings opera’s favorite double bill to new life, setting the two operas in the same Sicilian setting, separated by two generations. Marcelo Álvarez takes on the rare feat of singing both leading tenor roles. In Cavalleria, he is Turiddu, the young man who abandons Santuzza (Eva-Maria Westbroek) in his pursuit of the married Lola (Ginger Costa-Jackson)—and ends up being killed in a duel with her husband, Alfio (George Gagnidze). In Pagliacci, Álvarez is Canio, the leader of a traveling vaudeville troupe. Patricia Racette sings Nedda, his unfaithful young wife, whose plans to run away with her lover are foiled by her spurned admirer Tonio (George Gagnidze)—with equally tragic consequences. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi is on the podium.

Mozart Ascanio in Alba(en)

Cavalleria Rusticana - Pagliacci - Live from the Zurich Opera House(it)

Philip Glass: Akhnaten(en)

Akhnaten is set in Ancient Egypt, and based on the accession to the throne of the pharaoh Amenhotep IV – thought to have been around 1351BC – on his religious convictions, and the consequences of his actions. Presented as a combination of song, dance and music, the opera has a libretto by Philip Glass, Shalom Goldmann, Robert Israël and Richard Ridell, with the text drawing on ancient hymns, prayers and inscriptions, sung in their original Egyptian, Hebrew and Akkadian form. Produced by the Opéra de Nice Côte d’Azur as part of the Festival MANCA.

Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin(ru)

The pain of unrequited love is portrayed unforgettably by two of today’s greatest stars. Renée Fleming is musically and dramatically radiant as the shy Tatiana, who falls in love with the worldly Onegin, played with devastating charisma by Dmitri Hvorostovsky. Their mesmerizing vocalism and chemistry explode in one of opera’s most heartbreaking final scenes. With Valery Gergiev on the podium conducting Tchaikovsky’s passionate score, this performance is one for the ages.

Teatro alla Scala: Joan of Arc(it)

"Giovanna d'Arco; ossia, la pulzella d'Orléans" is an operatic dramma lirico with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera. The opera partly reflects the story of Joan of Arc and is based on a play by Friedrich von Schiller, although claimed by the librettist to be "an entirely original Italian drama." If the thought of Anna Netrebko strutting her stuff in a suit of armour and tin hat sets your factor tingling then this is a must. It's an inconsistent opera but has some quite wonderful music along the way. The rest of the cast is good and the production won't offend either. Get it for Ms Netrebko's incredible performance alone.

The Royal Opera: Turandot(en)

The beautiful but icy Princess Turandot will only marry a man who can correctly answer three riddles. Those who fail are brutally beheaded. But when an unknown prince arrives, the balance of power in Turandot’s court is forever shaken, as the mysterious stranger does what no other has been able to.

Dido & Aeneas(de)

Henry Purcell's opera Dido & Aeneas, completed in 1689, was the subject of a memorable and breathtaking performance at the Staatsoper Berlin in 2005. In Dido & Aeneas Sasha Waltz opens up new horizons in music theatre, creating a fusion of dance, singing and music the choreographic opera. The (extended, revised) libretto, the (reconstructed) music, vocal parts, dance, the stage set featuring a rousing underwater ballet combine to form a sublime total choreography and parallel action involving dancers, singers and musicians. In this choreographic opera, Sasha Waltz demonstrates not only her familiarity with Emile Jaques-Dalcroze and Pina Bausch, but also the confidence she has in her own style. Sensational!

Její pastorkyňa(cs)

Pfitzner: Palestrina(de)

Requiring 38 soloists, chorus, and large orchestra, Hans Pfitzner's "Palestrina" is a challenging opera to stage. In Munich, the city in which it was premiered in 1917, director Christian Stückle, conductor Simone Young, and the Bavarian State Opera met those challenges with stunning success.

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.

Adams: Doctor Atomic(en)

John Adams’s mesmerizing score, in the powerful production of Penny Woolcock, tells the story of one of the pivotal moments in human history—the creation of the atomic bomb. Conducted by Alan Gilbert in his Met debut, this gripping opera presents the human face of the scientists, military men, and others who were involved in the project, as they wrestled with the implications of their work. Baritone Gerald Finley gives a powerful star turn in the title role as the brilliant J. Robert Oppenheimer.

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.