Verdi La Traviata

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.

The Beggar's Opera(en)

Adaptation of John Gay's 18th century opera, featuring Laurence Olivier as MacHeath and Hugh Griffith as the Beggar.

The Metropolitan Opera: Siegfried(de)

Robert Lepage’s remarkable Met Opera production of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, the 2013 Grammy Award Winner for Best Opera Recording, is now available as individual DVDs. Siegfried features Bryn Terfel, Jay Hunter Morris, and Deborah Voigt, with Fabio Luisi conducting.

The Metropolitan Opera: Götterdämmerung(en)

Ring Cycle, pt 4. Siegfried is drugged and tricked into kidnapping his wife, since she has the Ring now. More double-crossings, Siegfried ends up dead. Brunnhilde has had enough of this, tosses the Ring into the river and torches the place.

Bellini: I Capuleti e i Montecchi(en)

The story of Romeo and Juliet, who pay for their passion with their lives, has been interpreted in the widest variety of literary and musical genres ever since the Renaissance. Vincenzo Bellini's much too rarely staged Romeo and Juliet opera, I Capuleti e i Montecchi, is far removed from Shakespeare's version: rather than telling the story of a tenderly burgeoning love, the piece is an account of the last 24 hours in the two young people's lives. The underlying mood of the piece is thus one of melancholy - which then develops into a catastrophic maelstrom. The première of the thrilling Zurich production of this bel canto gem, directed by Christof Loy and conducted by Fabio Luisi, was enthusiastically received by critics and audiences alike. The two protagonists also met with acclaim: experience world star Joyce DiDonato in the trouser role of Romeo, with the young Ukrainia soprano Olga Kulchynska at her side as Giulietta.

Mozart: Die Zauberflöte(de)

Magic opera, Singspiel, a comedy with spectacular stage effects, Masonic ritual with Egyptian mysteries, heroic-comic opera? Die Zauberflöte is heard more often and has been more frequently performed, discussed, queried and interrogated than almost any other work in the history of opera. It is rare for the mysteriousness and multiformity of a work to be adjured with such mantric intensity. It is equally rare for a work to enjoy such undisputed success despite all these debates – and for over two hundred years at that.

Mozart: Die Zauberflöte(de)

Die Zauberflöte is one of Mozart’s most famous works and one of the most beloved of the entire operatic repertoire. Generations of spectators have been fascinated by the melodies and adventures of Papageno, the Queen of the Night, Tamino, and Pamina, the ordeals faced by the young lovers, and the work’s inexhaustible allegorical depth. The director Romeo Castellucci has deliberately stepped back from the narrative dimension of the opera in order to explore its raw emotion and its philosophical heart. For his part, the conductor Antonello Manacorda brings Mozart’s immortal music to life with the help of an outstanding cast that includes Sabine Devieilhe, one of today’s finest interpreters of the Queen of the Night.

The Cunning Little Vixen(en)

An adaptation of Leos Janacek's opera Prihody Lisky Bystrousky (1925), based on the novel Liska Bystrouska by Rudolf Tesnohlidek. It follows the life of Sharp-Ears, a fox who is captured by a forester as a cub and raised in his home prior to escaping back into the forest.

Májové jitro(cs)

Otello(it)

Herbert von Karajan directed this film of Verdi’s Shakespearan masterpiece as well as conducting the Berlin Philharmonic. As the tragic Moor of Venice, arguably his greatest role, John Vickers (in the words of critic David Cairns) "commands both the notes and the moral grandeur of the part. … And he has the aura of greatness – greatness of heart, of bearing, of musical and dramatic conception". Mirella Freni is a heartbreakingly lovely and fragile Desdemona, while the fine English baritone Peter Glossop plays the villainous Jago.

L'Orfeo, Favola in musica(en)

First seen at La Monnaie in Brussels on 13 May 1998, this production of Monteverdi’s L’ORFEO seen through the eyes of Trisha Brown and René Jacobs has become an operatic classic in a few short years. This is doubtless because it offers a total symbiosis of music, text and movement – described by the critic of the Daily Telegraph of London as being ‘as close to the perfect dance opera as I have ever seen’. Or to quote Gilles Macassar in Télérama: ‘In the pit and onstage, the Brussels production has only one watchword: mobility, nimbleness, dexterity. The singers run, fly, whirl like dancers defying gravity. From the flies down to the footlights, the whole theatre is under a fantastic spell.’ For Christophe Vetter, on ConcertoNet: ‘This Orfeo can be seen again and again with immense pleasure. . . . René Jacobs’s conducting continues to arouse admiration for its precision, its stylistic rigour, its inexhaustible inventiveness and its feeling for the contrasts so vital to this repertoire.’

Funding(en)

Vivian, Roe, JJ, Ines and a mysterious French man through a 20 year musical memory of New York City. As people and places in their lives drift away, visual impressions meld with sound and narrative stories to reveal a complex yet moving tableau. As the characters recall their own personal histories, conflicting images reveal their past, present and future.

The Marriage of Figaro(en)

Charming, light-hearted and fizzing with subversive wit, Neil Armfield's sparkling production of the marriage of Figaro captures Mozart's most popular Opera. In this classic performance, recorded live at the Sydney Opera House, Patrick Summers conducts a energetic fresh-voiced cast, headed up by baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes and Taryn Fiebig who make a vivacious, appealing pairing as Figaro and Susanna, while Peter Coleman-Wright triumps as the lascivious Count Almaviva.

Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmelites(en)

At the end of 2013, the year that marked the 50th anniversary of Francis Poulenc’s death, his gripping and moving operatic masterpiece, Dialogues des Carmélites was staged in Paris by director Olivier Py with a cast featuring some of France’s finest female singers – Patricia Petitbon, Véronique Gens, Sandrine Piau and Sophie Koch – under the baton of Jérémie Rohrer. Le Figaro described the production as “a thing of wonder,” while Le Monde called it: “A masterpiece ... the most exciting and consummately achieved show to have been seen on a Parisian stage in a long time … This was great work, magisterial and unforgettable.” “The memorable Dialogues des Carmélites at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées marked the climax of commemorative activities for the 50th anniversary of Poulenc’s death,” wrote Opera magazine of the production of Poulenc’s gripping and moving opera that was staged by the French director Olivier Py in Paris in December 2013.

Don Giovanni(de)

Dennis Cleveland(en)

A 2002 live performance of Mikel Rouse's Dennis Cleveland, a multimedia opera set entirely on a television talk show in the late 20th century.

StraussR: Ariadne auf Naxos(en)

Glyndebourne's wartime history as a home for evacuee children is the ingenious context for a new production of this unclassifiable entertainment in which low comedy and high tragedy compete for our attention, "borne aloft by Strauss's divine music and Hofmannsthal's visionary poetry". At the centre of this production from Katharina Thoma is the noble, tragic figure of the abandoned Ariadne herself, in a haunting performance from Soile Isokoski, 'with brilliant support from the pit' (The Independent).

Death in Venice(en)

At the English National Opera, Deborah Warner has been directing Benjamin Britten's final opera, Death in Venice, conducted by Edward Gardner.

The Merry Wives of Windsor - Opéra Royal de Wallonie(en)

At the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, stage director David Hermann and music director Christian Zacharias lead a production of Otto Nicolai's 1849 opera The Merry Wives of Windsor, a work that draws its inspiration from William Shakespeare's beloved eponymous play.

La Vida Breve(en)

La vida breve, an Andalusian opera in two acts written by Manuel de Falla on a libretto by Carlos Fernández Shaw, staged by Giancarlo del Monaco at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, in Valencia.

Forky Asks a Question: What Is Reading?(en)

The energetic Peas-n-a-Pod siblings teach Forky about reading and how it is done, with a little help from Mr. Spell

Scooby-Doo: Agence toutou risques, vol. 1 : Le voleur de vélo(fr)

Psycho-Pass: Sinners of the System - Case.2 First Guardian(ja)

2112; the summer before Akane Tsunemori was assigned to Division One of the Public Safety Bureau's Criminal Investigation Department. Teppei Sugo, an accomplished pilot of the Defense Army's 15th Integrated Task Force, joins the military operation in Okinawa. Three months later, an unmanned combat drone opens fire on the Ministry of Defense in Tokyo. Enforcer Tomomi Masaoka of CID Division One is dispatched to Sugo's military base to investigate the truth behind this case.

[REC]²(es)

The action continues from [REC], with the medical officer and a SWAT team outfitted with video cameras are sent into the sealed off apartment to control the situation.

Bob(nl)

Film about an unemployed, socially handicapped bachelor who lives in a very small world. For his birthday, his mother gives him a young dog. The touching pup brings about a pleasant change in his lonely life. But the growing up of the small dog forces him to make a radical choice.

The Conman(cn)

A man kills an assassin by accident and when he gets out of prison, the victim's brother attempts to avenge his death.

Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines(en)

A small West Virginia town is hosting the legendary Mountain Man Festival on Halloween, where throngs of costumed party goers gather for a wild night of music and mischief. But an inbred family of hillbilly cannibals kill the fun when they trick and treat themselves to a group of visiting college students.

Johan Falk: National Target(sv)

Frank Wagner goes deeper undercover to infiltrate Europe's most dangerous Mafia, the Russian-est, consisting of ex - KGB officers.

Peter Pan(en)

This musical version of the tale of the boy who wouldn't grow up aired live on television on March 7, 1955. It was so popular that it was restaged the following year, and again four years later.

Young and Dangerous 2(cn)

Chicken is back in exile. Hung Hing, a triad, is trying to ally with Chicken's new group, the Taiwanese triad San Luen. A contest is on in Hong Kong. The winner will head the Causeway Bay branch.

Dune(hu)

Sounds as witnesses. They blurr into memories, half-dreams, it is undecided if they are real or not. A fluctuation between imagination and reality.

Marvel Rising: Heart of Iron(en)

Ironheart, AKA Riri Williams, is having difficulty adjusting to college life as the youngest student there when the college's engineering lab is demolished by an alien and her best friend is kidnapped. Inspired by Iron Man, she develops a plan to save her friend.

(re)kindle(pt)

Ana and Helen, two divorced women, were close friends as teenagers. Today, amidst the corona virus pandemic and in quarantine, they get in touch after 20 years via internet. Through video conference calls, memories, sensations and emotions reflourishes.

The Last One of the Six(fr)

Paris, France. Commissaire Wens is put in charge of the investigation into the murder of one of six friends who, in the past, made a very profitable promise.

Just Another Love Story(bn)

Delhi-based trans documentary filmmaker, Abhiroop Sen, wants to make a documentary film on the life of famous jatra thespian, Chapal Bhaduri. But in doing so Sen recognises that their life resembles Chapal's life. 'Just Another Love Story' revolves around the trauma, the setbacks, and the heartache experienced by the trans community.

WWE WrestleMania XXIV(en)

WrestleMania XXIV was the twenty-fourth annual WrestleMania PPV. The event took place on March 30, 2008, at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. The first main event was a Singles match from the SmackDown brand that featured The Undertaker challenging World Heavyweight Champion Edge for the title. The second was a Triple Threat match from the Raw brand, in which WWE Champion Randy Orton defended against challengers Triple H and John Cena. The third was a singles match featuring ECW Champion Chavo Guerrero defending against Kane. Other matches include a No DQ match with Floyd Mayweather Jr. fighting The Big Show, a Money in the Bank ladder match with Carlito, Shelton Benjamin, MVP, CM Punk, Mr. Kennedy, Jericho, and John Morrison, and a retirement match between Shawn Michaels & Ric Flair.

Imaikkaa Nodigal(ta)

A CBI officer goes in search of a ruthless serial killer. Things get worse when the murderer targets the former and her family

Men(en)

The chronicles of a degenerate man who loves to masturbate, and his corporate disabled friend.

Barranco do Inferno(pt)