Don Carlos(1965)

Verdi: Rigoletto(it)

Rigoletto is a jester in the court of the Duke of Mantua. He has a hunch-back and he's rather unattractive, but he's good at his job of humiliating the courtiers for the amusement of the Duke. The courtiers, of course, are not amused. The Duke is a ladies man who feels his life would be meaningless if he couldn't chase every skirt he sees. In fact, we learn as the opera begins that he's recently been noticing a young lady every Sunday on her way to church, and he's vowed to have his way with her. What nobody realizes is that the girl is the jester's beloved daughter, Gilda, and that Gilda has seen the Duke every Sunday and is smitten with him. Suddenly Count Monterone appears at court, furious that the Duke has seduced his daughter. Rigoletto ridicules Monterone, the Duke laughs, and Monterone casts an awful curse on both of them. Later, the courtiers discover that Rigoletto is secretly living with Gilda...

Gwiazda Piołun(pl)

Perhaps Love(ko)

Hyun, a best-selling writer, has found himself in a slump for a long time. In the meantime, he accidentally meets Yu-jin, an aspiring young writer. Hyun gets confused when Yu-jin confesses his love to Hyun. A 19-year-old student and Hyun’s son, Sung-kyung, who is skeptical about his life, meets Jung-won, a young married woman living next door. Sung-kyung has a good feeling for this freewheeling woman. A pure-hearted man, Soon-mo, who is Hyun’s best friend and also the publisher, meets his friend’s ex-wife.

Mike Fright(en)

The gang attends a radio station amateur show.

Blood on My Shoes(es)

Agents across the globe take turns spying on and double-crossing one another in an attempt to locate a valuable formula encrypted in the music code.

12(tl)

A subtle and brilliant sexual awakening of a boy, who is torn between following his wishes or away from them, even though the world that opens before it is too powerful to be ignored in this way.

Life according to Nino(nl)

Life is good for Nino van Doorn (8). He has a terrific brother Lucas (14), wise father Bruno and an angel of a mother, Marla. When Marla dies, Bruno can't cope with her death. Also the values like order, responsibility, love and care they represented. The two brothers create their own world. But soon the anarchistic world is threatened by the outside world. The two brothers are prepared to fool the system but what happens is that they really become a family again.

Ten Minutes(es)

A desperate man makes a call to customer service looking for an answer.

Far Out(en)

Two friends attempt to reconnect.

Violent Stories(es)

Five surreal short stories make up this Mexican anthology film.

Evolution of the Red Star(en)

Music: Carl Stone. Colored pen-and-ink drawings, like topological maps of biomorphic objects, grow and evolve from the red star. Once the master image is formed, this continuously throbbing, pulsating sight is used to ring changes based on years of optical work. Music and picture work together to create a mood of ecstatic tranquility. The bright colors, beautiful music, surprise at the end, etc. make this a good film for young children. Awards: Sinking Creek Film & Video Festival, 1973; Washington National Student Film Festival, 1974; Brooklyn Independent Filmmakers Exposition, 1974; Vanguard Int'l Competition of Electronic Music for Film, 1974; Humboldt Film Festival, 1974. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with iotaCenter and National Film Preservation Foundation in 2007.

Super Daughter-in-Law(uz)

The 'super kelinchak' has found her place as a wife and mother yet is as feisty as the mother-in-law who taught her how to become the perfect daughter-in- law...

Bet to Basic(cn)

Inferior gangster Flying Dragon has a bad habit of gambling, he thus offends the three great gamble deceivers. Luckily his younger cousin, Roy, who comes back from America is extraordinarily lucky, he can win every round of the game and saves Flying Dragon. Flying Dragon hence brings Roy to Mahjong casino to earn money for him. Roy observes the rivalry between two Mahjong geniuses Hua San Yuan and Ge He Qing by chance, he witnesses the fate of them - one turns to be insane and one becomes bankrupt, and decides not to snatch the reputation of "The King of Mahjong". Though Roy has no desire to seize the fame, his good luck elicits the worry of aggressive Mie Luo who then plans to harm Roy.

Mr. Horn(en)

Western saga based on the legend of frontier folk hero Tom Horn, including his role in the trackdown of Geronimo in the 1880s with his mentor and pal, Al Sieber, the fabled Indian scout, his later days as a Pinkerton detective, and the way he was used by both sides in turn-of-the-century cattle wars, leading to his tragic death.

Way Home(da)

How far are you willing to go to save the people you love? This is the question Christian (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) is forced to answer when he is smuggled into Syria in a desperate search for his son Adam. It's a deadly and soul-searching journey into a brutal, war-torn country. Gradually, Christian realises that he must be willing to sacrifice everything he believes in to be reunited with his son. WAY HOME is a powerful and gripping drama about powerlessness, forgiveness and the love for our children.

Kouzelný strom(cs)

Carmen(fr)

A film version of the famous Bizet opera, where a soldier (Don Jose) falls in love with a beautiful factory worker (Carmen), but she does not reciprocate his feelings.

Svätopluk(sk)

Giordano: Andrea Chernier(it)

“Kaufmann is performing the title role for the first time, and it’s hard to imagine him bettered. His striking looks make him very much the Romantic and romanticised outsider of Giordano’s vision. His voice, with its dark, liquid tone, soars through the music with refined ease and intensity: all those grand declarations of passion, whether political or erotic, hit home with terrific immediacy.” – The Guardian Presented in its Covent Garden premiere in January 2015, this staging – directed by David McVicar and conducted by the Royal Opera’s Music Director, Sir Antonio Pappano – shows a bloody tricolour daubed with the words “Even Plato banned poets from his Republic” – written by Robespierre on the death warrant of the historical Chénier, a poet and journalist sent to the guillotine in 1794 for criticising France’s post-revolutionary government.

Il Barbiere di Siviglia(de)

Famous Scenes from Pagliacci(en)

Scenes from Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera with Canio, the clown, introducing actors who are seen in pantomime while the operatic voices are heard off-screen. Canio discovers his wife has been unfaithful but carries on with his performance.

Rimsky-Korsakov: The Golden Cockerel(en)

Pushkin folk tale as comedic opera whose sultry elements expand an Oriental influence. Korsakov portrays the story of Tsar Nicholas II, punished for his cowardice and despotism, using satire to condemn Russia's autocratic ruler.

Verdi: Otello(it)

Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher’s bold new production probes the psychological underpinnings of Verdi’s dynamic setting of Shakespeare’s great tragedy. At the helm of this performance is riveting conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who brings out all the cascading emotions in Verdi’s turbulent score. Aleksandrs Antonenko is the Moor Otello, the triumphant general of the Venetian army who is ultimately brought down by the sly insinuations of his friend Iago (Željko Lučić). Sonya Yoncheva continues to win fans as Desdemona, Otello’s faithful and long-suffering wife. With Günther Groissböck as Lodovico and Dimitri Pittas as Cassio.

The Metropolitan Opera: Die Walküre(en)

Robert Lepage’s landmark staging of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, unveiled over the course of the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons, was the first new Met production of the complete cycle in more than 20 years. Combining state-of-the-art technology with traditional storytelling, it brings Wagner’s vision into the 21st century. With Die Walküre, the story of the Ring enters the world of human beings. Jonas Kaufmann and Eva-Maria Westbroek are Siegmund and Sieglinde, the twin children of Wotan, sung by Bryn Terfel. Deborah Voigt stars in the title role of the Valkyrie Brünnhilde, Wotan’s favorite daughter. James Levine conducts.

Bizet: The Pearl Fishers(fr)

Bizet’s rarely heard opera returned to the Met for the first time in a century on New Year’s Eve 2015, in Penny Woolcock’s acclaimed new production. Star soprano Diana Damrau sings Leïla, the virgin priestess at the center of the story. Matthew Polenzani and Mariusz Kwiecien are Nadir and Zurga, rivals for Leïla’s love who have sworn to renounce her to protect their friendship—and who get to sing one of opera’s most celebrated duets, “Au fond du temple saint.” Nicolas Testé is the high priest Nourabad and Gianandrea Noseda conducts Bizet’s supremely romantic score.

Benjamin: Lessons in Love and Violence(en)

Opera based on the story of Edward II and Piers Gaveston. Music by George Benjamin, libretto by Martin Crimp. BBC broadcast of the 2018 premiere at the Royal Opera House, the composer conducting, prefaced by commentary and interviews.

Glass: Kepler(en)

Live performance of Philip Glass's opera Kepler (2009) by the Landestheater Linz Upper Austrian State Theater in 2011, conducted by Dennis Russell Davies.

Simon Boccanegra(it)

Coming just before the mature final works, Verdi's Simon Boccanegra - along with Un Ballo in Maschera, Les Vêpres Siciliennes, La Forza del Destino and Don Carlos - occupy a strange but fascinating hinterland in the career of the composer. Each of the operas, influenced by Verdi's political involvement in the Risorgimento for the reunification of Italy during the period, are very much concerned with the exercise of power, but they all rely on typically operatic conventions of bel canto and French Grand Opéra in their use of personal tragedies and unlikely twists of fate to highlight the human feelings and weaknesses that lie behind their historical dramas. Written in 1859, but revised by the composer in 1881, Piave's libretto given an uncredited reworking by Arrigo Boito, Simon Boccanegra is consequently one of the more interesting works from this period, certainly from a musical standpoint. Live from Teatro all Scala, Milan 2010.

Rusalka v parku(cs)

Il Barbiere di Siviglia(it)

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.

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.

Norma: Live from the Royal Opera House(it)

The priestess Norma loves Pollione, leader of the occupying force suppressing her people, and has borne two children by him. But Pollione’s love has withered, and he now loves Norma’s fellow priestess Adalgisa. Meanwhile, the people urgently look to Norma to lead their rebellion.

The Metropolitan Opera: Tristan und Isolde(de)

Met audiences were fascinated by Mariusz Treliński’s gripping, visionary production of Wagner’s epic opera. In the daunting title roles of the doomed lovers, Nina Stemme and Stuart Skelton are passionate, overwhelming, and heartbreaking as they battle every obstacle that separates them from their true destiny. René Pape is King Marke, betrayed not only by Isolde but by Tristan, the man he most trusts and loves like a son. With Ekaterina Gubanova as Isolde’s confidante Brangäne and Evgeny Nikitin as Kurwenal, Tristan’s loyal lieutenant. Simon Rattle conducts a surging, shimmering account of Wagner’s monumental score.