La Traviata: Love, Death & Divas(2015)

Amahl and the Night Visitors(en)

The historic, original, live airing of what would become an annual Christmas tradition throughout the 1950s, this opera tells the story of Amahl, a crippled shepherd boy, and his destitute mother, who provide temporary shelter to three men who are following a star to the newly-born Christ child.

Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle(en)

With its four operas, seventeen-hour running time and months of rehearsal, Wagner's "Ring Cycle" is a daunting undertaking for any opera company. Jon Else goes backstage to show this rare event entirely from the point of view of union stagehands at the San Francisco Opera.

La Traviata(it)

Mario Martone signs direction and scenes of this new film-work of Verdi's masterpiece. On the podium of the Orchestra of the Teatro dell'opera in Rome its musical director, maestro Daniele Gatti. the new set-up of the opera to a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave is embellished with costumes by Anna Biagiotti and photography by Pasquale Mari.

La Scala Theatre: the Temple of Wonders(it)

Go inside the building that has been the source of some of the greatest moments in music, ballet and opera.

Anna Netrebko und Rolando Villazón singen "La Traviata"(de)

Lucia di Lammermoor(uk)

Lovers Edgar and Lucia dream of happiness, but Lucia's brother Henry is preparing her marriage to another man. He forces his sister to sign a marriage contract and enter into an open fight with Edgar.

Do Not Be Anxious — Be Fast And Be Quiet(de)

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.

Zuzana Vojířová(cs)

Miller’s daughter Zuzanka Vojířová, betrothed to Ondřej Zachar, hesitates before marriage when Lord Peter Vok of Rožmberk invites her to his castle. There she bears his son Petříček, but his wife hides the child. After Vok’s death in battle, Zuzanka is expelled and lives as a beggar, reunited with her son and former fiancé, finding solace in the continuation of the Rožmberk lineage.

Il club dei 27(it)

A 12-year-old boy tries everything to join a music lovers club.

Walter Hus, a Musical Journey(fr)

During his thirty-year career, Walter Hus, a Belgian composer and pianist, has taken a thousand musical faces. While he wanted to compose a new work, a crisis blocked his creation. During an exchange with his therapist, he comes to an existential question: "Who am I musically? » Through the portrait of this composer, as abundant as it is fascinating, the film aims to give access to his creative process and thus to the endurance and beauty of creation.

Cavalleria rusticana(it)

Franco Zeffirelli directs these two legendary La Scala productions telling tragic tales of jealousy. Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana features performances by Elena Obraztsova, Plácido Domingo, and Renato Bruson. Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci stars Teresa Stratas, Plácido Domingo, and Juan Pons. Both are conducted by George Pretre. This production of Pagliacci earned director Franco Zeffirelli the coveted Emmy as Best Director in the category of Classical Music Programming.

Notre Dame de Paris - Live Arena di Verona(it)

Notre Dame de Paris tells the story of Quasimodo, the hunchbacked bell-ringer of the cathedral of Notre-Dame and of his impossible and tragic love for Esmeralda, a beautiful gypsy. A love condemned by injustice and hypocrisy. Quasimodo forced by his ugliness to look at the world from the top of a tower one day he falls madly in love with Esmeralda who sees dancing and singing on the square in front of the cathedral. But Esmeralda is in love with Febo, the handsome captain of the King's guards. Febo is fiancé of Fiordaliso, a young and rich bourgeois, but the exotic and sensual beauty of the gypsy does not leave indifferent the man who immediately falls in love with her. Even Frollo, the archdeacon of the cathedral, is attracted by the gypsy and spying on the moves of the two lovers in a raptus of jealousy and repressed carnal desire to get rid of the rival stabbing Febo behind.

Grace Bumbry is Carmen(de)

Discover Grace Bumbry’s inspiring rise to global opera fame. Spotlighting her historic performances, the film explores the racial barriers she overcame to triumph in her 1966 performance as "Carmen."

Einstein on the Beach: The Changing Image of Opera(en)

The creative processes of avant-garde composer Philip Glass and progressive director/designer Robert Wilson are examined in this film. It documents their collaboration on this tradition breaking opera.

The Death of a Composer: Rosa, a Horse Drama(en)

"Rosa", with a libretto by Peter Greenaway and score by Louis Andriessen, is the first in a projected series of 10 operas, each dealing with the death of a famous composer - some real, others fictional. "Rosa" falls into the latter category; it tells the story of Juan Manuel de Rosa, a Brazilian who went to study music in America but spent most of his time in the cinema instead, becoming particularly entranced by Westerns. Now 32 years old and residing in an abandoned Uruguayan slaughterhouse, Rosa has become one of Hollywood's foremost composers, specialising in Westerns. He also has a beautiful 19-year-old fiancee, Esmeralda, but he pays her little heed, instead lavishing his attentions on a black mare named Bola. One day, a group of men attired as cowboys arrive at the abattoir and kill both Rosa and Bola; an investigation is conducted, with particular suspicion!

Primadonna or Nothing(en)

From the first steps of an emerging singer to the final bow of a celebrated soprano, 'PRIMADONNA OR NOTHING' follows three relentless women who sacrifice everything to be an opera star.

Silence! Cameras! The Magic Flute!(sv)

A documentary behind the scenes of Ingmar Bergman's The Magic Flute.

Tosca's Kiss(it)

Memoirs of the Italian Opera by the singers and musicians of the Casa Verdi, Milan, the world’s first nursing home for retired opera singers, founded by composer Giuseppe Verdi in 1896. This documentary, which has achieved cult-like status among opera and music lovers, features former singers who reminisce about their careers and their past operatic roles.

Zaryadye Hall: A Diamond is Hatched(ru)

Concert and documentary celebrating the 1st Anniversary of Moscow’s Zaryadye Hall