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1-50 of 114
- A vengeful beauty foils the plans of the bloodthirsty Hun warrior to conquer Rome.
- A very visual and profound dramatization of the various sections of Carmina Burana, a symphonic piece composed by Carl Orff about medieval poetry by an anonymous author.
- Set in 1820, the story of Ahab, captain of the ill-fated whaleship Pequod, and the crew he commands. Having lost one of his legs to the white whale called Moby Dick, Captain Ahab is obsessed with finding and destroying him at any cost. Only the ship's first mate, Starbuck, sees the deadly implications of Ahab's obsession.
- Sebastian, Chief Archer in the Roman Army, converts to Christianity. A favorite of Emperor Augustus, Sebastian's devotion to Christ eventually drives him to reject the Emperor's love, causing the Emperor to angrily order Sebastian to be shot with arrows by his fellow archers. The film retells this mystery play with a definite 'art-house' approach: an almost poetical use of language, singing, dancing, some homoerotic themes, and some special effects.
- This drama documentary for cinema explores the pacifism that was such a powerful influence on composer Benjamin Britten's life and work. The story begins in 1929 at Gresham's School in Norfolk, England. Our young actors take us into a world where social and political issues are actively addressed and young Ben Britten's hatred of all things militaristic is formed. As we explore the music that illustrated that hatred throughout his life, illustrated by new performances and unique observations from experts and friends, we frequently return to dramatic interludes at Gresham's, which cement the narrative - spoken by legendary actor John Hurt. The transcendent music of the War Requiem accompanies the climax of the film, before we return to Gresham's School 2012.
- At death's door, George Frederic Handel reflects, rages, and narrates his life. From his womanizing youthful days, to his rise in fame as a composer, God Rot Tunbridge Wells! pulls no punches in this wild romp of a biopic.
- Arrigo Boito's Il Mefestefele, his best-known work, was first performed in 1868. Ken Russell's modern interpretation presented by the Genoese Opera has Faust as an ageing hippie, smoking marijuana and being tormented by his lost youth. Mephisto makes a bet with God that he can turn anyone to pagan life, even someone as innocent as Faust. Thus ensues a battle of good against evil in a flamboyant, surreal display of primary colours, PVC costumes, nurses with swastikas, rocket trips, love, and even characters dressed as Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse. Ken Russell explained the contemporary setting by claiming that the devil is always with us.
- The utterly amazing Mozart opera, set in modern Harlem. Utilized twin brothers to sing Leporello and Giovanni.
- "Tannhauser" is an opera by Richard Wagner divided in three acts and based on the fight between pure and carnal love. This modern version changes the original medieval story to the present days.
- In 1881 La Scala in Milan staged a magnificent ballet spectacle. The aim was to present by means of a ballet all the great discoveries and achievements which had illuminated the late 19th century. This production from 2002 at the Teatro al la Scala brings a slightly updated version of Manzotti's work. With 100 dancers on stage at a time, references to the golden MGM film era and Busby Berkeley-style dancing.
- When Korean composer Unsuk Chin's opera was first performed by the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, it caused a sensation among music critics worldwide. Based on Lewis Carroll's famous and fascinatingly enigmatic novel Alice in Wonderland, it is a seductive, enchanting, sensuous opera set to a modern, ear-pleasing score - a triumph of creative fantasy. Unsuk Chin was born in Seoul in 1961, studied with György Ligeti in Hamburg and now lives in Berlin. She has an acute ear for instrumentation, orchestral colours and rhythmic imagery. Her compositions are modern in language but lyrical in their communicative power. Kent Nagano, a long-time supporter of Chin's music, expertly conducted the Bavarian State Opera and a team of wonderful singer-actors including international stars like Dietrich Henschel and Gwyneth Jones. The opera about Alice's search for her identity - "her reality in the appearance of the world" - as director Achim Freyer put it, switches from delicacy to cuteness to grotesquery and back again. The rather conventional Alice starts following her dreams, meeting a white rabbit that guides her through a wonderland. Alice views it all with amazement and learns - finally returning to the real world, richer for the experience. The phenomenal fairy-tale settings and production were in the hands of Achim Freyer, who created a firework of colour and form. The marvellous costumes and puppets were created by Nina Weitzner, who was named "Costume Designer of the Year" by the German music magazine Opernwelt for her imaginative designs. And in a survey of the magazine's opera critics, Unsuk Chin's opera, which closed Kent Nagano's first season at the Bavarian State Opera, was hailed as the "World Première of the Year". This live recording of the premiere in the Nationaltheater in Munich in June 2007 provides a feast of audiovisual entertainment.
- For the first time ever the hidden archives of bandoneon player Astor Piazzolla are opened by his son. A cinematic portrait of the worldwide legendary composer who changed tango.
- Director Cédric Klapisch paints a portrait of Aurélie Dupont, star dancer of the Paris Opera ballet, which was filmed for three years, between 2006 and 2009.
- Medea, the powerful sorceress of Greek myth, betrays her country and her family in order to assist her lover Jason in his quest for the Golden Fleece. When he abandons her she exacts vengeance.
- Undoubtedly the most famous opera buffa in the history of music and an eternal source of delight, Rossini's remarkable opera was composed in only a few weeks. Although the premiere, performed on February 10, 1816 in Rome was a resounding flop, the opera was quickly revived on February 22, when "The Barber" received rapturous applause.
- A selfish hero regrets his apathetic rejection of a young woman's love and his careless incitement of a fatal duel with his best friend.
- Stiffelio was based on the play Le pasteur, ou L'évangile et le foyer by Émile Souvestre and Eugène Bourgeois and was originally censored due to it involving as it does a Protestant minister of the church with an adulterous wife.
- Recorded live at the Arena di Verona, July 2006
- TARARE is an opera in five acts composed by Antonio Salieri (1750 - 1825) to a French libretto by Pierre Beaumarchais. It was performed for first time by the Paris Opera at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin on 8 June 1787.