Puccini: La Fanciulla del West(2011)

La Bohème(it)

Puccini’s heartbreaking story of young love in the garrets of Belle Epoque Paris has attracted many famous singers through the years. But with James Levine at the helm and the starry duo of Luciano Pavarotti and Renata Scotto as Rodolfo and Mimi, every bit of emotion in the score pours across the footlights and seduces the audience. In this case, the audience was in the millions since this was the very first in the “Live from the Met” series of telecasts. The evocative production is by Fabrizio Melano, designed by Pier Luigi Pizzi.

Asa(ja)

A short animation by Haruka Suzuki based on the poem "Asa" by Ikuko Shirakuma

Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust(de)

A portrait of Pope Pius XII (1876-1958), head of the Catholic Church from 1939 until his death, who, during World War II, and while European Jews were being exterminated by the Nazis, was accused of keeping a disconcerting and shameful silence.

Macron président, la fin de l'innocence(fr)

1%(en)

A student on his way home from school discovers that his phone only has 1% of battery left and must race home in time to answer an important call from his boss.

Just Ducky(en)

Jerry Mouse befriends a newly hatched duckling who can't swim and ends up protecting him against his feline nemesis, Tom.

Groom from London(el)

Betty has become engaged, for her father’s sake, with a hard working and kind young man, Kostas, who works at a store selling electrical appliances that belongs to Betty’s father, Mr. Periklis. The latter values Kostas and truly wants to make him his son-in-law. Kostas saves the life of a sensitive girl, Mary, who tries to commit suicide because her English lover deserted her. Later on, he is persuaded to impersonate a rich Englishman in order to help Mary deal with her father, Mr. Kyriakos, who is trying to force her to marry someone against her will.

Rewind 2: 1996(en)

When Marty's car is stolen, he sets out on a mission to find it; however, he soon realizes that the person who stole it is much more dangerous than he thinks.

Asa(id)

An animated film that tells the story of Dian, a child bride whose dream of playing her favorite sport of badminton is cut short.

I delitti del BarLume - La loggia del cinghiale(en)

The Wild Boar Lodge - when a stag party ends with a murder Massimo finds himself the prime suspect.

Kings of Power 4 Billion %(en)

The planet is being rained on by countless trouble making schoolboy aliens, so a group of legendarily powerful epic people all run around kicking ass, only to converge on the aliens target; the prison bus. Alas, they are too late! The boys in the bus have transformed into the Violence Kings, and go on a bloody rampage, devastating the world.

Devdas(hi)

Childhood sweethearts grow up in a small village with a love-hate relationship which changes to love when they mature.

Musangwe: Fight Club(en)

The first rule is that there are no rules. For the bare-knuckle combatants competing in Musangwe fights, anything goes - you can even put a curse on him. The sport, which dates back centuries, has become a South African institution. Any male from the age of nine to ninety can compete. We follow a group of fighters as they slug it out in the ring. Who will be this year's champion?

The Watermill Princess 2(cs)

Happily ever after has a bumpy start for a young couple in a magical land when the husband is sent off to battle by a jealous prince.

DREAM 15(ja)

DREAM.15 took place on July 10, 2010, at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, promoted by Fighting and Entertainment Group’s DREAM. The main event features Shinya Aoki defending his Lightweight Championship against Tatsuya Kawajiri, with Aoki coming off a submission win over Mizuto Hirota at Dynamite!! 2009 and Kawajiri riding a TKO victory over Kazunori Yokota. Key undercard bouts include Gegard Mousasi vs. Jake O’Brien and Tatsuya Mizuno vs. Melvin Manhoef in the Light Heavyweight Grand Prix opening round, alongside Michihiro Omigawa vs. Cole Escovedo. Originally planned as an eight-man tournament, the Grand Prix was scaled back to four fighters.

The Faculties(es)

Students of different careers prepare to take final exams. Botany, anatomy, sociology, medieval philosophy, criminal law, morphology, theoretical physics and piano. Each one uses their own abilities to cope with the situation of oral exposure, the most common evaluative practice in the National Universities of Argentina. Throughout the waiting moments in the halls, between the drama and the absurdity of each exam, the subjects begin to find unexpected relationships.

Scooby-Doo: Agence toutou risques, vol. 2 : Le fantôme de la télé(fr)

Amadeus(en)

Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the hedonistic and remarkably talented young Viennese composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

A Midsummer Night's Dream(en)

The Glyndebourne Opera's 1981 production of the Benjamin Britten opera, based on Shakespeare's play.

Tosca(it)

Tosca, suspecting his lover is seeing anothe woman, turn him, painter Mario Cavaradossi, to Baron Scarpia.

Das Liebesverbot(en)

This Wagner opera is rarely performed because of the scandals that engulfed the Magdeburg Theatre when it was performed in 1836 under the title The Novice of Palermo, and became known as a cursed opera from which the composer had to distance himself. Wagner's adaptation of the story reflects the rebellious mood of a Revolutionary Germany, vindicating sensual love and attack the fanatical repression of sexuality by a puritanical and hypocritical authority. As the prose says, "Shame to him whose cruel striking/Kills for faults of his own liking!". One of the most extraordinary musicals based on a text by Shakespeare, especially worthy of a new performance as it is four hundred years since the death of the Bard.

The Nose(en)

Shostakovich’s satirical opera adapted from the classic short story by Nikolai Gogol. Baritone Eduard Akimov leads the cast as Kovalyov, the hapless bureaucrat whose nose has mysteriously gone missing.

Moses und Aron(en)

One of the greatest revolutions in the history of mankind happened around 3000 years ago: the transition from polytheism to monotheism through the prophet Moses. God revealed himself directly to Moses, instructing him in absolute truth. Moses was charged with leading the people of Israel to the Promised Land and escaping from Egyptian slavery. Moses came to embody the relationship between the human and divine truth. God’s call to Moses presented a new idea that exploded all previous religious concepts: ‘One God – unique, eternal, intangible, inconceivable’. Moses understands this concept, but is unable to express it, and therefore God appoints Moses’ brother Aaron as his spokesman. They are bound to fail: Aaron can only approach sharing the idea by compromising its meaning, whilst Moses is left to search fruitlessly for “the word I lack …” This production of Arnold Schoenbergs opera was filmed during the Ruhrtriennale 2009.

Manon Lescaut(it)

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

Aria(en)

Ten short pieces directed by ten different directors, including Ken Russell, Jean-Luc Godard, Robert Altman, Bruce Beresford, and Nicolas Roeg. Each short uses an aria as soundtrack/sound, and is an interpretation of the particular aria.

Richard Wagner: Tannhäuser(de)

Witness the Zurich Opera's stunning production of Richard Wagner's masterpiece "Tannhauser," conducted by Franz Welser-Most and featuring Peter Sieffert (Tannhauser), Solveig Kringelborn (Elisabeth) and Roman Trekel (von Eschenbach). Initially produced in Dresden in 1845, "Tannhauser" instilled a sense of wonder in a few of Strauss's ardent friends and admirers, among them Robert Schumann and Franz Liszt. Opera buffs will love it.

The Met: Live in HD – Die Zauberflöte(en)

The Queen of the Night enlists a handsome prince named Tamino to rescue her beautiful kidnapped daughter, Princess Pamina. Aided by the lovelorn bird hunter Papageno and a magical flute that holds the power to change the hearts of men, young Tamino embarks on a quest for true love, leading to the evil Sarastro's temple where Pamina is held captive.

The Metropolitan Opera: Medea(it)

Having triumphed at the Met in some of the repertory’s fiercest soprano roles, Sondra Radvanovsky stars as the mythic sorceress who will stop at nothing in her quest for vengeance. Joining Radvanovsky in the Met-premiere production of Cherubini’s rarely performed masterpiece is tenor Matthew Polenzani as Medea’s Argonaut husband, Giasone; soprano Janai Brugger as her rival for his love, Glauce; bass Michele Pertusi as Glauce’s father, Creonte, the King of Corinth; and mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova as Medea’s confidante, Neris. Carlo Rizzi conducts.

Rodelinda(it)

Jean-Marie Villegier's modern interpretation of Handel's "Rodelinda" – filmed live at the world-renowned Glyndebourne Opera House in the United Kingdom, sets the timeless tale of jealousy and treachery in the black-and-white world of the silent-movie era. Soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci sings the title role of Rodelinda, with tenor Kurt Streit and bass Umberto Chiummo performing the parts of Grimoaldo and Garibaldo, respectively.

Rigoletto(it)

In Rigoletto, the deformed figure of the hunchbacked jester at the Mantuan court acts as a foil to his cynical and powerful master, an unscrupulous philanderer contrasted with his cruel and unforgiving fool. Rigoletto encourages and welcomes the Duke's conquests, pitilessly mocking his victims until he discovers that the Duke has abducted the one person he genuinely loves, his own daughter. As a result, the character of the court jester is transformed into a tragic figure who, in spite of his evident immorality and malice, allows us to sense the devotion he feels for his daughter and his horror at being destroyed by the same despotic world as that which he himself has helped to create.

Tristan und Isolde(de)

Take a perfect cast, a great conductor and a groundbreaking staging in-out makes a 'Tristan' for eternity. The 1983 performance in Bayreuth was a great moment for the world of opera. The ensemble performance of René Kollo, Johanna Meier and Matti Salminen with, then as now the Wagner admirer, Daniel Barenboim conducting the Bayreuth orchestra inspired singers and instrumentalists to peak performance. Jean-Pierre Ponnelle created a dream-beautiful stage.

Don Giovanni(it)

This production was originally staged for the Pepsico Summerfare Festival, The International Performing Arts Festival of the State University of New York at Purchase. Leaving the lyrics in their original Italian, acclaimed American director Peter Sellars transports Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Don Giovanni" to a modern-day metropolis, nestling the opera's beloved characters among the brownstones of New York City's Harlem. Sellars's contemporary retelling of a classic musical tale is one of three performances in a Mozart series that also includes "Le Nozze di Figaro" and "'Così Fan Tutte."

Bernd Alois Zimmermann - Die Soldaten(de)

Arabella(en)

Arabella, Op. 79, is a lyric comedy or opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, their sixth and last operatic collaboration.

Médée(fr)

A lonely mother and her son go to the opera where a performance of Cherubini’s opera Medea is given. It is the mother’s birthday and she wanted to surprise her son by inviting him to the opera. But, the son’s plan were different and he is quite upset about it. His mother tries to break the silent barrier behind which he hides. A semblance of discussion begins, not without humour. Tension is present but, as the performance goes on, both find themselves astounded, captured, alone in the opera house.

Don Pasquale (Royal Opera House)(it)

Royal Opera favourite Bryn Terfel heads the cast for this new production of Donizetti’s comedy of domestic drama across two generations. The witty story of a middle-aged man whose supposed young wife runs rings around him – with her own ulterior romantic purpose in mind – has long delighted and surprised audiences, not least as presented with the sparkle of its music and the virtuoso skill of its performers. Damiano Michieletto’s exhilarating production shows how contemporary the characters still are and how immediate and touching the story remains.

Fidelio(de)

Beethoven’s only opera is a masterpiece, an uplifting story of risk and triumph. In this new production, conducted by Antonio Pappano, Jonas Kaufmann plays the political prisoner Florestan, and Lise Davidsen his wife Leonore (disguised as ‘Fidelio’) who daringly sets out to rescue him. Set in strong counterpoint are the ingredients of domestic intrigue, determined love and the cruelty of an oppressive regime. The music is transcendent throughout and includes the famous Act I Quartet, the Prisoners’ Chorus and Florestan’s impassioned Act II cry in the darkness and vision of hope. Tobias Kratzer’s new staging brings together the dark reality of the French Revolutionary ‘Terror’ and our own time to illuminate Fidelio’s inspiring message of shared humanity.