Britten: Billy Budd

Puccini: Turandot(it)

Franco Zeffirelli's magnificient staging of Puccini's final opera - a fairy tale set in a mythical China - is one of the most popular in the Met repertory. In this Live in HD production, Maria Guleghina takes on the title role and Marcello Giordani is Calaf, the unknown prince. Marina Poplavskaya and Samuel Ramey co-star, and Andris Nelsons conducts in his Met debut.

Der Freischütz(de)

The legendary director Ruth Berghaus created this staging of Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischütz as a gripping theatrical experience for the Zurich Opera in 1993. Its revival in 1999 was a roaring success. With sets by Hartmut Meyer and costumes by Marie-Louise Strandt, Berghaus’ staging avoids the local peasant colour conventionally associated with Weber’s opera. Chorus and orchestra of the Zurich Opera House are conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, universally celebrated for the structural transparency of his interpretations, his intellectual penetration and his emotional understanding of both music and opera plot. And last but not least an all-star cast made this production a highly memorable event: the dramatic soprano Inga Nielsen as Agathe, one of her best roles, the Swedish soprano Malin Hartelius as Ännchen, the sought-after Heldentenor Peter Seiffert, who gives a convincing passionate Max, and many others.

Madama Butterfly(it)

Opera at La Scala Milan

Giuseppe Verdi: Aida(de)

Billy Budd(en)

A version of Benjamin Britten's opera based on the Melville story. Will the virtuous young sailor Billy Budd be hanged for murder?

Rusalka(en)

Dvořák's "Rusalka" in a production by David Pountney at the English National Opera in 1986. Mark Elder conducts the orchestra, accompanied by the English National Opera Chorus in English.

Salome(de)

This filmed version of Strauss' shocker features Teresa Stratas as opera's most depraved teenager, and she's as perfect a Salome as one would ever hope to see or hear. Stratas inhabits the role, exploring the character's sensuousness as she vainly woos Jochanaan, her venomous hatred when she's rejected, the crazed look in her eyes when she demands his head--on a silver platter, no less. Such complete identification with a role, especially of a character so malignant helps make this 1974 Salome stand out among the many fine DVDs of the opera.

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.

Lohengrin(de)

After Tristan und Isolde (2016), Parsifal (2017) and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (2018) this is the fourth installment of the exclusive, multiyear partnership between Deutsche Grammophon and the Bayreuth Festival, in which the Yellow Label is the exclusive audiovisual partner of the mythical Wagner festival, releasing each edition's new production on Blu-ray. This year, we are proud to release on Blu-ray the celebrated production of Lohengrin which was premiered on 25 July 2018, featuring an illustrious cast including Piotr Beczala and Anja Harteros in their house debuts, as well as the acclaimed return of Waltraud Meier to the Bayreuth Festival. The New York Times praised Piotr Beczala’s Lohengrin as “outstanding”, Anja Harteros [making] her impressive Bayreuth debut” as Elsa, and Ortrud “played with dominant presence by the incomparable Waltraud Meier”.

Siegfried (Longborough Opera Festival 2022)(en)

The hero Siegfried reforges his father’s shattered sword, embarking on a quest for the greatest prize of all – the love of the valkyrie Brünnhilde, who lies trapped in a ring of fire. Siegfried is the third opera in Richard Wagner’s four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. Wagner broke off composition at the end of Act II of Siegfried to write Tristan und Isolde and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, returning to Siegfried seven years later. Longborough Festival Opera, known as the British Bayreuth, calls on renowned Wagnerian Anthony Negus to conduct and Amy Lane to stage this new production of Siegfried in the bucolic English Cotswolds.

Giacomo Puccini: Turandot(it)

Lovely but lethal, the evil Princess Turandot comes to life through the performance of Luana De Vol in this visually stunning production of Giacomo Puccini's Peking-set opera directed by Nuria Espert and conducted by Giuliano Carella. In this 2004 performance at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Spain, all the subtleties of Puccini's unique tonality and unconventional instrumentation are in ample evidence.

Phantom(ja)

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

Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor(it)

Lucia di Lammermoor, dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti (1797 - 1848). Libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, after Walter Scott's 'The Bride of Lammermoor'. First performance in Naples, Teatro San Carlo, 26 September 1835 Recording: December 23 2015 - Gran Teatre del Liceu | Barcelona Director: Fabrice Castanier Conductor: Marco Armiliato Orchestra & Chorus of the Gran Teatre del Liceu

Italka v Alžíru(cs)

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.

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.

La Finta Giardiniera(it)

The Zurich Opera gathered a superb cast for this production: Italian soprano Eva Mei sings the Countess Violante, known as Sandrina, the feigned gardener of the title. Spanish soprano Isabel Rey is her opponent Arminda, and Arminda's former lover, the melancholy Cavaliere Ramiro, is sung by Romanian mezzo Liliana Nikiteanu. Moretti's staging presents the action in a modern villa in a hierarchical world of the rich and famous.

Jenůfa(cs)

When a beautiful young woman in rural Moravia becomes unexpectedly pregnant, she learns that love is sometimes only skin-deep. Janáček took Gabriela Preissová's grim tale of infanticide and redemption, and condensed it into a masterful, spine-chilling drama. The tragic plight of the protagonists is presented with unsentimental realism that cannot help but trigger a response of deep compassion. Premiered at the National Theatre in the composer's hometown of Brno 115 years ago, the opera took him nine years to complete and is the first in which his distinctive voice can clearly be heard.

Figaros Hochzeit(de)

Shortly after WWII, the DEFA Studios produced a series of operas and operettas which belonged to the classical German musical heritage. This enchanting film, the very first opera production of DEFA, stands out because of its lavish decor and costumes, its outstanding actors and their masterful voices of that time.

Poulenc's The Human Voice / Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle(en)

Running through Bartók’s disenchanted tale, whose haunting music was initially condemned as unplayable, and the expression of despair in Poulenc’s monologue, the director Krzysztof Warlikowski perceives a shared dramatic thread, a shared feminine consciousness and a shared sense of imprisonment and suffocation: for the woman who penetrates the confines of Bluebeard’s castle and Elle, the woman who clings to a telephone conversation with a man as the only thing worth living for, are condemned to share the same fate. And this man she speaks to, does he really exist? Unless the director has interpreted Cocteau’s words to the letter and the telephone has become a “terrifying weapon that leaves no trace, makes no noise”…

Matthew Bourne's Christmas(en)

This new Christmas ballet film was conceived by Matthew Bourne and directed by his long standing film collaborator Ross MacGibbon. The film celebrates Bourne's power to imaginatively transform ballet, taking dance and dancers off the stage into studio, bringing together projections, animation, and an intimate shooting style to produce a distinctive new way of presenting dance on screen. Those who know Bourne's stage work will spot extracts from many of his biggest hits (including Swan Lake, Edward Scissorhands, and Nutcracker!), but for audiences less familiar with his work this is simply a journey through a series of magical worlds where stories are told through dance.

Meathook Massacre(en)

3 young women encounter car trouble on the way to a Dragonsclaw concert during a rainstorm. They are forced to go seek help, where one by bloody one they are attacked by a masked maniac and hung on meathooks. Who will survive and what will be left of them?

Tiempo de silencio y destrucción(es)

January 1964, the author of the novel Tiempo de silencio, Luis Martín-Santos, dies in a tragic car crash. On the 60th anniversary of the accident and the 100th year since his birth, we follow his children on a voyage to reconstruct the writer, the psychiatrist, the man behind the work that turned him into a literary promise. A journey through the figure of Martín-Santos, his peculiar view of post-war Spain and his work hidden for years based on partly unpublished texts.

Segundo subsuelo(es)

A Portuguese photographer, an architect and an emblematic building of the City of Buenos Aires, crossed by a common history, but at the same time particular. Segundo Subuelo is a documentary film about the obstinacy of memory, about the search for truth and about two characters traveling together a city with labyrinths that only they know.

Junket(en)

Chaos ensues as a gay actor and his female costar fake being a couple as they try to save the press junket for their new television show.


An Irony(mr)

Amid the vast, sunlit farmlands, two young men engage in an everyday conversation about the struggles of rural life, from failing crops to financial pressures. Their quiet afternoon takes a somber turn when a third man arrives to chop down a tree that has been sold for a modest sum. As the axe strikes the trunk, the act becomes a powerful metaphor for the sacrifices forced upon those trying to make ends meet. Through understated visuals, विडंबन poignantly reflects the harsh realities and quiet resilience of rural life.

Geisterkatzen (1)(de)

The Force Beyond(en)

Speculative "documentary" about alien visitations on Earth, UFO sightings and how aliens are responsible for pretty much every conspiracy theory, paranormal encounter and cryptozoological sighting in history. (Also Jesus. No, really.)

Call of Pink(en)

We can easily say that our life is a game, not an ordinary one where you can determine the story, the space and the characters, but a game which comes with opportunities and traps, with gains and losses, a game we have to play every second, a game in which we are rooted. Sometimes we choose the virtual space in order to escape reality, but in the end it turns out to be just a way to avoid the real game, our everyday life. We see the big changes as new levels in our lives and we don't have the option to skip, our only choice is to play. So, the "Call of Pink" comes with the positive point of view that the world needs to overcome the real life levels, which we all know are the hardest to pass. Anyway, some details as creativity and fun are the things we should keep as weapons for the reality.

Blinded(en)

Clara meets John at a particularly vulnerable time in her life. She is "blinded" by love and he becomes her world. The intense relationship then becomes violent and Clara is forced to take drastic action to protect herself and their son Chris.

The Belovs(ru)

Portrait of a troubled peasant family. The film tells the story of two times widow Anna Belova who lives together with her brother Mikhail. Blending the two personalities, Kosakovsky characterizes the true Russian soul: she is the rational worker, honest and strong - he is the drunken poet, the idealist, his philosophy fades into radical nonsense time after time.

Mister Rossi at Camping(it)

Mr. Rossi goes camping.

Boston Johnny(en)

A spokesman rises to the top of the Greater Boston area spokesperson game.

The Fire(de)

Judith decides to go on her own to the salsa-dancing night, even though her boyfriend, with whom she goes there every week, can’t accompany her. A stranger, with whom she briefly dances, offers to walk her home. Next morning, upon returning home, Judith refuses at first to accept that she’s a rape victim, but in the end decides to go to a doctor and press charges - which prove inadequate to have the rapist convicted. Under the influence of sweeping bodily and mainly psychological oscillations, Judith decides she has to follow an unorthodox path in order to prove the perpetrator’s guilt.

Sorriso Maroto - Eu Gosto Ao Vivo No Maracanãzinho(pt)

Tomorrow Yeaaaaah!(en)

The study stylizes the highly concentrated training of a basketball team and the start of the big game the next day. Bodies, movements and sounds are fragmented in unusual excerpts, alienated by the reduction to black and white and reassembled in an original and fast-paced montage.