
5.0The production by Deutsche Oper Berlin achieves a beautiful balance between the stage drama and the music. It proves that there are still singers who can perform Verdi's melodies at the highest level and that it is also possible to bring them together into an ensemble. The production fulfills all one's expectations of the modern city of Berlin in terms of stylishness and performance.
8.0Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the hedonistic and remarkably talented young Salzburger composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
0.0Joan Sutherland's farewell performance to the operatic stage offsets this story of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre and the magnificence of 16th century France.
0.0Francesco Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur was inspired by the real-life story of a celebrated actress at the Comédie-Française who was much admired by Voltaire. Hailed as a masterpiece, the opera was triumphantly staged in cities around the world after its premiere in 1902. The dramatically effective narrative is a passionate love triangle filled with intrigue and complicated plot twists set in the gallant 18th century. Its subtle ironies and gorgeous cantabile style of music provide a perfect vehicle for the star cast in this stunning production from the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
0.0This Blu-ray is a splendid record of a creative production with terrific voices and direction, as good as the Met's videos any day. It also tends to be creepy and atmospheric, with music as good as anything Gounod wrote for his FAUST. Recommended to lovers of horror and opera!
10.0This thought-provoking, modern-day interpretation of Rossini's 'Mosè in Egitto' sets the scene for superior music-making at the prestigious Rossini Festival in Pesaro. For conductor Roberto Abbado, the transposition of the action to the present day releases the energy of Rossini's music. At his disposal is a cast of top-quality vocalists such as the “refined bel canto artist(Bresciaoggi) Sonia Ganassi as Elcia, and the “outstanding” Dmitry Korchak as the Pharaoh's son, two lovers fatefully drawn into the political turmoil and catastrophes of their time. Also among the protagonists are the “thoroughly brilliant” (DeutschlandRadio Kultur) baritone Alex Esposito as Faraone and, in his Rossini Festival debut, young, full-bodied bass Riccardo Zanellato as Moses. Conductor Roberto Abbado “inspired his musicians to deliver a spectacular performance” (Salzburger Nachrichten).
0.0Visually this is a gripping production which captures the drama of this opera perfectly. It's downright exciting! and I found the singing, acting, and orchestral playing reasonably fine. I found only one major problem with it, a problem that kept Puccini for quite a few years. Turandot has been looking for an opportunity to kill Calif and Calif has singlemindedly tried to get Turandot to love and wed him focusing on her and ignoring a better looking girl who loves him truly. The problem is how to get the audience to applaud the match once Calif gets his wish. Puccini couldn't figure out how to do it. The traditional quick ending doesn't do it, and Berio's attempt is longer , tries its best, but ends up making it plain this is one wierd couple.
0.02014 marks a year of celebration recognizing the 150th birthday year of the German late-Romantic orchestral, operatic and lied master composer, Richard Strauss (1864-1949). Arabella (premiered 1933, Dresden) was the last of the half dozen Strauss works to feature a libretto by the great Austrian writer Hugo von Hofmannsthal. This production, from the most recent Salzburg Easter Festival is, after Capriccio, the second of three Richard Strauss operas C Major is releasing in honor of the composers birth, life and work. The star-laden cast includes soprano Renèe Fleming, baritone Thomas Hampson, Albert Dohmen (Covent Garden, Wiener Staatsoper, MET) and Gabriela Beaková (Wiener Staatsoper, Covent Garden). With Christian Thielemann and the Staatskapelle Dresden, the music of Richard Strauss is in the best of hands. (ORF) Thielemann gets the best out of the cast...especially Renée Fleming with her luxurious soprano FAZ
0.0Rarely has a production of Verdi’s Otello been staged in such a prestigious location: the courtyard of the Palazzo Ducale in Venice! This special outdoor “event production” of the Teatro La Fenice takes place amidst genuine late-Gothic and Renaissance architecture highlighted by spectacular projections: “A set of singular fascination” (Il Corriere Musicale). Critics were full of praise for the musical performance, designating conductor Myung-Whun Chung as the “absolutely dominating force” of the performance (GB Opera). The lead role is sung by Gregory Kunde, who successfully interpreted both Verdi’s and Rossini’s Otello in one year, perhaps the first tenor ever to do so. He “reproduces every accent, every colour demanded by Verdi with sensibility and intelligence” (OperaClick).
0.0"Die tote Stadt" is a psychologically layered drama with Hitchcock-like features, about Paul who, after the loss of his beloved Marie, slowly but surely becomes entangled in a dream world of obsessions and delusions. This impressive opera is a passionate as well as a surrealistic plea for mourning. "He who cannot live with death has no life."
0.0Simon Rattle conducts the Berliner Philharmoniker in Stepháne Braunschweig's production of Richard Wagner's Die Walküre. A Festival d'Aix-en-Provence 2007 production, in coproduction with Osterfestspiele Salzburg. Directed for HDTV and video by Don Kent.
0.0Passion, jealousy and betrayal take center stage at Londons Royal Opera House in a spectacular production of the worlds most popular opera. Bizets Carmen is packed with some of the best-loved and memorable music in all of opera. In this characteristically vivid and vibrant stage production by Francesca Zambello, beautifully filmed in 3D by Julian Napier, Seville is brought to life with ranks of soldiers, crowds of peasants, gypsies and bullfighters as well as a magnificent horse, a donkey and even some chickens! This spectacular RealD and Royal Opera House production features a supremely talented cast, gripping drama and Bizets energetic and passionate score. It is truly a musical event to remember!
0.0The production was the Vienna State Opera debut for the young Swiss conductor Philippe Jordan – the Argentinian tenor Marcelo Álvarez, took the title role. His Charlotte on this occasion was the young Latvian mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča. Her performances have been enthusiastically received and she has already been labelled as the new mezzo wonder. Staged by internationally sought-after Rumanian director, Andrei Serban, the apparently sentimental love story – normally presented in 18th century period costumes - reveals a study of personal relationships and a close observation of a woman, who comes of age too late. Serban’s aim was to rid the opera of the unjustified reputation of banality that clings to it despite its underlying tragic mood. By setting the production in the stiff, claustrophobic atmosphere of a small town in the 1950s, he aimed to make the audience more aware of its deeper levels of self-denial.
6.0Emmanuelle Haïm has established herself as one of the world’s leading performers, conductors and interpreters of Baroque repertoire, not only with Le Concert d’Astrée, the ensemble she founded in 2000, but with several of the world’s greatest orchestras. Known for her fresh and expressive approach to Baroque music, she has garnered critical acclaim and several international awards with her own ensemble, including Victoires de la Musique Classique, ECHOs, Gramophone Awards, and Grammy nominations.
0.0Originally commissioned to celebrate the completion of the Suez Canal and the opening of Cairos new opera house, Verdis Egyptian epic Aida is here seen in a spectacular new staging in the Teatro Regio Torino by the Oscar-winning American film director William Friedkin, creator of such famous movies as The Exorcist and The French Connection. The cast features American soprano Kristin Lewis who has been heralded for her remarkable voice, which she uses with powerful dramatic instinct, and Georgian mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili, whose Amneris dominates the stage with her dark, rounded, irresistible voice and extraordinary stage presence. Gianandrea Noseda leading the Orchestra and Chorus Teatro Regio Torino received accolaides from all: he controls everything- orchestra, singers, chorus, dancers, acrobats- with an all-encompassing overview. He knows exactly when its time to linger over a timbre, a color, an expressive chord.
0.0Fierrabras of 1823 is the last of Franz Schubert’s stage works. Rarely performed to this day, this heroic-romantic opera has now been staged for the first time ever at the Salzburg Festival by famous director Peter Stein. Based on an old French 12th-century epic, the plot depicts the military conflict between Christians and Moors at the time of Charlemagne – as a backdrop to stories of love and friendship that prove to be stronger than war and hatred of otherness. The strong cast includes the “marvellously expressive miracle Dorothea Röschmann” (Die Zeit) and “Michael Schade, who exudes his exceptional tenor in Fierrabras’s heroic arias” (Der neue Merker). Under the energetic baton of lngo Metzmacher, the Vienna Philharmonic unfold “the melos, the poetry, the sweetness and the dramatic force of Schubert’s highly refined and atmospheric sound worlds” (Kleine Zeitung) in highly romantic fashion.
7.0On a June night in 2017, opera lovers thronged to the Royal Opera House in London to hear tenor Jonas Kaufmann, recently acclaimed by The Daily Telegraph as the world s greatest tenor, make his eagerly anticipated debut in the title role of Otello Verdi s greatest and most demanding role for tenor voice. As the New York Times wrote Mr. Kaufmann made his debut in the part, and he calmly, confidently sang it for the ages.
0.0The Lyric Opera of Chicago's 1985 production of Puccini's opera, set in the late nineteenth century in the city of Nagasaki, about a young Japanese woman who weds an American naval officer who later abandons her and the child she bore him.
7.2A Night in Tuscany is the first DVD released by Italian singer Andrea Bocelli of a concert held in his native Tuscany, in 1997, highlighting the unique blend of Classical, Pop, and traditional Italian songs that made him a crossover success as an internationally acclaimed tenor. The concert takes place at the Piazza dei Cavalieri in Pisa. Bocelli performs two opera duets with soprano Nuccia Focile during the concert, before singing Miserere with Italian rock star Zucchero, who discovered him, and Time To Say Goodbye with English soprano Sarah Brightman
8.0Join multi-platinum band Fall Out Boy as they travel back to their hometown of Chicago for a mind-blowing audio-visual extravaganza. Featuring their newest hits Centuries, Irresistible, and Uma Thurman, this 17 song concert also includes the band's best loved songs from across their whole career. This special performance is one of the most memorable Fall Out Boy concerts ever, filmed during the Boys of Zummer tour that hit 39 North American cities throughout 2015. Great musicianship, powerful songs and stunning visuals all make for an exceptional concert experience!
6.4It's a beautiful day in Slottsskogen, Gothenburg idyllic city park, when suddenly the unthinkable happens - gunfire amidst all people. Two gangsters shooting game against each other and a large police operation starts. The conflict grows rapidly to involve several gangs from Gothenburg underworld. GSI switched to try to identify a new thread which proves to be both larger and better armed than any other. The only clue is a tattoo on one of the killed gang members.
3.6In this stop-motion animated comedy, a young couple's romantic weekend getaway is interrupted by a birth control mishap.
7.9Prior to the HISTory World Tour, Jackson performed a free concert at the Jerudong Park Amphitheatre in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei on 16 July 1996, attended by 60,000 throughout the park. The concert was in celebration of the fiftieth birthday of Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei and was attended by the Brunei royal family. Much of the concert resembled Jackson's Dangerous World Tour, including his outfit, stage, and the setlist, keeping the details of the upcoming HIStory Tour a close secret. This concert was not part of the Dangerous World Tour nor the History World Tour. The concert also marked the debut live performance of "You Are Not Alone" and "Earth Song" as well as the last performances of "Jam", "Human Nature", "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" and "She's Out of My Life" at a Jackson concert. This concert was also among the last performances of "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" being sung fully live; most subsequent performances have been partially lip-synched.
A short documentary drama exploring motherhood and bringing up children with autism spectrum disorder.
Celtic Thunder presents Take Me Home, an all new show, as seen on PBS. The DVD with a running time of almost 2 hours long features 13 new Celtic Thunder performances! After the smash success of the first Celtic Thunder production in 2008, producers Sharon Browne and Phil Coulter have developed an all-new Irish-music showcase. The sharply dressed male vocalists who starred in the first show have returned, and each performer gets a chance to show off his pop sensibility. The energetic set includes traditional Celtic tunes as well as rock covers and original compositions by Coulter.
10.0Frank and his longtime group of friends traverse a Saturday night of confronting their own fleeting adolescence as the world around them changes and Frank watches his little sister grow up before his eyes at her senior prom.
7.4Three friends who live in Resende, in the interior of Rio de Janeiro, and plan a trip in Babette's Beetle convertible to celebrate their 15 years of friendship and attend the closing show of the tour of a great pop star, who studied with them as a teenager. and today he is the most famous young singer in Brazil.
4.0A couple of Sunday school teachers invite Chinese laundry workers to their session. In return the Chinese invite them to an opium den, where the devout schoolmarms quickly abandon their morals!
9.2The mysterious man in black returns, and this time Ghost Rider is going Back to Basics with some of the most extreme high-speed action ever seen. The latest installment of the adrenaline-packed Ghost Rider series features incredible on-board footage from the highways of Sweden and busy streets of Stockholm. Join Ghost Rider as he weaves through traffic, rides the Nurburgring, "off-roads" in a city center, goes sledging without snow and comes within seconds of disaster during unexpected encounters with a police van and a huge lorry! Ghost Rider swaps two wheels for four as he burns rubber in a high performance Subaru, showing he has skill and style whatever the machine. All the way the Swedish police are on his tail, the pursuits captured from incredible on-board camera angles and shown in split screen - so you can see what's ahead as you leave the pursuers behind. Plus, Ghost Rider finally agrees to take on a street race, with his bike at stake as well as his pride.
9.5Maria murders her husband and then tries to claim the life she hasn't experienced up to this point.
6.5A group of students are preparing works for an art exhibition, they belittle a myth that "Any inanimate object that resembles a living thing, is not just a dead-object"
10.0CJ, a closeted teenager, has created a fake 90s reality to escape reality and with the help of his best friend Jen he learns that it isn't always a good thing to live in a dream
6.3Silence is the most beautiful thing that exists in the universe. When an astronaut ponders the quietude of space, he makes a startling self-realisation.