Bel Air Classiques Naxos
Produced in the 1930s, The Flames of Paris, with music by Boris Asafiev, was presented on the eve of the anniversary of the October Revolution, and later continued to be included in the ranks of works which were always brought out for an airing on anniversaries of this sort. This is hardly surprising, The Flames of Paris is about the conflagration of the great French Revolution. It had a new 'hero' type which, up to then, had not been encountered in ballet ?EUR" one of its main characters was the populace, revolutionary in mood and ready for action.
Performed in 1981 by Rudolf Nureyev and recently added to the Bolshoi's repertoire, this rarely presented swashbuckling ballet, now sees its rebirth on the stage of the famed theatre. Re-created specifically for the Bolshoi by French choreographer Pierre Lacotte, Marco Spada , or the Bandit's Daughter is a grandiose and unique ballet both on a technical and dramatic level: complex choreography, five lead roles created for five principals, several changes in scenery, the participation of nearly all the Corps de ballet, and even the presence of animals on stage. With its scenes of pantomime, devilish intrigue, rejected suitors, kidnapping heroines, rebellion, and lovers misunderstandings, Marco Spada is a fresh and joyful ballet to discover.
The american soloist David Hallberg stars as Marco Spada with Evguenia Obraztsova, Olga Smirnova, Semion Chudin and the Corps de ballet of the Bolshoi Ballet.
The american soloist David Hallberg stars as Marco Spada with Evguenia Obraztsova, Olga Smirnova, Semion Chudin and the Corps de ballet of the Bolshoi Ballet.
To the term choreographer Heinz Spoerli prefers "dance maker". In the few short years since he took charge of the Zurich Ballet, the company has gained an international reputation, with the austere yet poetic In den Winden im Nichts (Cello Suites) among its flagship works.
Following on the success of his adaptation of the Goldberg Variations , Spoerli turned to that other Bach masterpiece, the Suites for Solo Cello , offering his abstract vision in three stunningly beautiful dance episodes.
The choreography mixes solos, pas de deux, trios and ensemble work. Beginning and ending with a near-identical solo, the cycle is dominated by circularity. The duets are virtuoso gems, athleticism made dance.
Its subtle play on balance and the relationship between bodies and light, the symmetry and asymmetry of the ensemble parts, its purity of movement and its sheer energy make this a ballet of remarkable density, depth and theatrical beauty.
The Bach Suites are played here by Claudius Herrmann, solo cellist with the Zurich Opera Orchestra, in a rendition that does full justice to their choreographic potential.
Following on the success of his adaptation of the Goldberg Variations , Spoerli turned to that other Bach masterpiece, the Suites for Solo Cello , offering his abstract vision in three stunningly beautiful dance episodes.
The choreography mixes solos, pas de deux, trios and ensemble work. Beginning and ending with a near-identical solo, the cycle is dominated by circularity. The duets are virtuoso gems, athleticism made dance.
Its subtle play on balance and the relationship between bodies and light, the symmetry and asymmetry of the ensemble parts, its purity of movement and its sheer energy make this a ballet of remarkable density, depth and theatrical beauty.
The Bach Suites are played here by Claudius Herrmann, solo cellist with the Zurich Opera Orchestra, in a rendition that does full justice to their choreographic potential.
The New York City Ballet, with its collection of extraordinary dancers and its unique repertoire, is one of the most prestigious dance companies in the world. This exceptional production, performed in Paris after eight years of absence, revolves around three great French composers who inspired NYCB founder George Balanchine : Charles Gounod, Maurice Ravel and Georges Bizet .
The four ballets performed, choreographed from 1925 to 1980, perfectly encapsulate Balanchine's genius and his very own neo-classical style. They also provide a particular insight on the bonds that tied Balanchine to France. What is known today as Walpurgisnacht Ballet was a ballet choreographed for the opera Faust (Charles Gounod) at the Paris Opera in 1975. It premiered as an independant piece in New York in 1980. Sonatine , set to a music by Maurice Ravel, was created by two New York City Ballet French principals, the recently departed Violette Verdy and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux. La valse was originally composed by Maurice Ravel for the Ballets Russes and Serge Diaghilev, then exiled in France, shortly before Balanchine entered the company. Symphony in C (Georges Bizet), better known as Le Palais de Cristal, premiered at the Paris Opera.
The four ballets performed, choreographed from 1925 to 1980, perfectly encapsulate Balanchine's genius and his very own neo-classical style. They also provide a particular insight on the bonds that tied Balanchine to France. What is known today as Walpurgisnacht Ballet was a ballet choreographed for the opera Faust (Charles Gounod) at the Paris Opera in 1975. It premiered as an independant piece in New York in 1980. Sonatine , set to a music by Maurice Ravel, was created by two New York City Ballet French principals, the recently departed Violette Verdy and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux. La valse was originally composed by Maurice Ravel for the Ballets Russes and Serge Diaghilev, then exiled in France, shortly before Balanchine entered the company. Symphony in C (Georges Bizet), better known as Le Palais de Cristal, premiered at the Paris Opera.
This stellar production of Beethoven's Fidelio - the sole opera by the universally beloved composer born 250 years ago - stands out from the pack. First, it features a young Jonas Kaufmann in 2004, near the beginning of his meteoric rise to superstardom thanks to the qualities already on full display here: a dark and stentorian tenor voice, remarkable acting capacities, and a seemingly effortless expressiveness that make him a perfect fit for the iconic roles he would go on to embody, not least of which is Florestan.
But even the greatest soloist cannot make an opera work on his own - and?the unique alchemy here between Jurgen Flimm's minimalist staging and Nikolaus Harnoncourt's expert musical approach focuses the drama's power on the ineffable power of love, rather than just on philosophy or politics. Fidelio tells the story of Leonora (soprano Camilla Nylund, in one of the roles that launched her to international success like Kaufmann), who disguises herself as a man (Fidelio, "faithful one"), to rescue her husband (Florestan), unjustly imprisoned by his enemy Pizarro (here, a powerful Alfred Muff) and guarded by the warden Rocco (a worthy Laszlo Polgar). Fittingly, the original title of the opera was Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love.
But even the greatest soloist cannot make an opera work on his own - and?the unique alchemy here between Jurgen Flimm's minimalist staging and Nikolaus Harnoncourt's expert musical approach focuses the drama's power on the ineffable power of love, rather than just on philosophy or politics. Fidelio tells the story of Leonora (soprano Camilla Nylund, in one of the roles that launched her to international success like Kaufmann), who disguises herself as a man (Fidelio, "faithful one"), to rescue her husband (Florestan), unjustly imprisoned by his enemy Pizarro (here, a powerful Alfred Muff) and guarded by the warden Rocco (a worthy Laszlo Polgar). Fittingly, the original title of the opera was Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love.
A jewel of bel canto, and Bellini's last masterpiece, I Puritani encapsulates every major theme held dear by the Italian romantic generation: a love triangle, quid pro quos, a shattered love affair leading to madness, set in Cromwell's England with its lot of political rivalries. It is also an ode to resistance and to freedom, echoing the political struggles that the Italian peninsula was facing in the 1830's. But it is mainly a testament to Bellini's unique musical brand, a genius combination of melodic brightness, post rossinian ornaments, and a profound and melancolic lamento that owes much to traditional Neapolitan songs.
It is therefore one of the most vocally demanding opera of the repertoire, and to face this challenge, the Teatro Real of Madrid called on four exceptional singers: the great diva Diana Damrau is Elvira, Javier Camarena is Arturo (both triumphed at the Metropolitan Opera of New York in the same opera in 2017), as well as baritone Ludovic Tezier and bass-baritone Nicolas Teste.
Catalan director Emilio Sagi offers a staging both elegant and simple, and bel canto expert Evelino Pido, along with the Teatro Real Orchestra and Chorus, brings forth every nuance of this immense and unforgettable score.
It is therefore one of the most vocally demanding opera of the repertoire, and to face this challenge, the Teatro Real of Madrid called on four exceptional singers: the great diva Diana Damrau is Elvira, Javier Camarena is Arturo (both triumphed at the Metropolitan Opera of New York in the same opera in 2017), as well as baritone Ludovic Tezier and bass-baritone Nicolas Teste.
Catalan director Emilio Sagi offers a staging both elegant and simple, and bel canto expert Evelino Pido, along with the Teatro Real Orchestra and Chorus, brings forth every nuance of this immense and unforgettable score.
The Russian director's aim with this bold, sensitive transposition was "to highlight the hidden sorrows of a late twentieth-century man dwelling in a megalopolis."
The redoubtably complex title role was entrusted to Austrian baritone Georg Nigl. Born in Vienna in 1972, Georg Nigl was solo soprano with the Vienna Boys Choir prior to three years as an actor at the Burgtheater in Vienna. He began training as a singer at the Hochschule fur Musik in Vienna in 1990, before going on to the Kammersangerin Hilde Zadek. Over the last few years he has worked with, among others, Thomas Hengelbrock and his Baltasar Neumann Ensemble, Jordi Savall and his Hesperion XXI Ensemble, and Giovanni Antonini and Luca Pianca and their Il Giardino Armonico.
American soprano Mardi Byers plays Marie. A native of Colorado, she made her international debut as Tosca in Lubeck and Elisabetta in Don Carlos in Wiesbaden and Basel. She has also sung Donna Anna and Suor Angelica at the New York City Opera, as well as Elisabeth in Tannhauser and Ariadne in Nuremberg.
Greek conductor Teodor Currentzis directs the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra and Chorus. Artistic director of the Perm Opera and founder and musical director of the Musica Aeterna ensemble, Teodor Currentzis is now to be seen in the world's leading...
The redoubtably complex title role was entrusted to Austrian baritone Georg Nigl. Born in Vienna in 1972, Georg Nigl was solo soprano with the Vienna Boys Choir prior to three years as an actor at the Burgtheater in Vienna. He began training as a singer at the Hochschule fur Musik in Vienna in 1990, before going on to the Kammersangerin Hilde Zadek. Over the last few years he has worked with, among others, Thomas Hengelbrock and his Baltasar Neumann Ensemble, Jordi Savall and his Hesperion XXI Ensemble, and Giovanni Antonini and Luca Pianca and their Il Giardino Armonico.
American soprano Mardi Byers plays Marie. A native of Colorado, she made her international debut as Tosca in Lubeck and Elisabetta in Don Carlos in Wiesbaden and Basel. She has also sung Donna Anna and Suor Angelica at the New York City Opera, as well as Elisabeth in Tannhauser and Ariadne in Nuremberg.
Greek conductor Teodor Currentzis directs the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra and Chorus. Artistic director of the Perm Opera and founder and musical director of the Musica Aeterna ensemble, Teodor Currentzis is now to be seen in the world's leading...
Faust is a victim of the "malady of his century", the feeling characterized by melancholy and dissatisfaction which marked artistic creation in the beginning of the 19th century and set the basis of the Romantic Movement. His knowledge is a burden which does not allow him to dream and he is tormented by his impiety (Alfred de Musset also expressed this feeling in the magnificent Rolla). Mephistoph?les, the devil personified as a human being, comes to him with an offer: should Faust follow him and forget about his erudition, he will have access to pleasure, happiness and everything he desires.
With the help of magic and fiendish creatures, the devil present the young Marguerite to Faust and both celebrate their love in a duet Love has taken my ravished soul . But to avoid disgrace and Marguerite's mother's fury, they have to part. In the wake of their union, Mephistopheles tells Faust that Marguerite is in prison for having poisoned her mother with a sleeping beverage. Mephistolpheles promises that he will free her if Faust agrees to serve him. As soon as Faust sells his soul to the devil, he is thrust in Hell. The last notes of Berlioz's work describe the apocalypse where blood flows, skeletons dance and the lakes are set on fire, where as Marguerite, the naive soul which...
With the help of magic and fiendish creatures, the devil present the young Marguerite to Faust and both celebrate their love in a duet Love has taken my ravished soul . But to avoid disgrace and Marguerite's mother's fury, they have to part. In the wake of their union, Mephistopheles tells Faust that Marguerite is in prison for having poisoned her mother with a sleeping beverage. Mephistolpheles promises that he will free her if Faust agrees to serve him. As soon as Faust sells his soul to the devil, he is thrust in Hell. The last notes of Berlioz's work describe the apocalypse where blood flows, skeletons dance and the lakes are set on fire, where as Marguerite, the naive soul which...
A traditional filming reproduces the perspective of an audience in its seat armed with opera glasses. This film shows just the opposite ?EUR" the spectator is placed in the orchestra among the musicians and in front of the conductor. We thus have the perspective of the musicians and the emotions they live with Cristoph Eschenbach. The effect of being in the very midst of these always surprising scores is nothing short of spectacular. For Harold in Italy , violist Tabea Zimmermann joins maestro Eschenbach and the Orchestre de Paris.
For the first time in scenic version, and to celebrate Leonard Bernstein's centennial, the delightful Wonderful Town filmed during its French premiere at the Opera de Toulon!
With a keen sensitivity to the demands and specificities of the American "musical", and after the triumph of Sondheim's Follies in 2015, the Opera de Toulon once again embarked on a Broadway adventure with the French premiere of Bernstein's Wonderful Town, and brought back for the occasion stage director Olivier Benezech, a major connoisseur of the genre.
A true declaration of love to the city of New-York, Wonderful Town tells the tale, with a boisterous rhythm and vast amounts of jazzy tunes, of two sisters from Ohio looking for success and glory in the big city. Lighter in tone than later works like West Side Story or Candide , its smart combination of the different musical traditions one could hear when wandering in the streets of New-York, its accomplished orchestral writing and colouring, and its vivid sense of comedy earned it no less than five Tony awards when it premiered in 1953.
A story of love and swing with a touch of social satire, it is here revived with all the energy and the sparkle one could hope for: from the highly effective scenography by Luc Londiveau and Gilles Papain to...
With a keen sensitivity to the demands and specificities of the American "musical", and after the triumph of Sondheim's Follies in 2015, the Opera de Toulon once again embarked on a Broadway adventure with the French premiere of Bernstein's Wonderful Town, and brought back for the occasion stage director Olivier Benezech, a major connoisseur of the genre.
A true declaration of love to the city of New-York, Wonderful Town tells the tale, with a boisterous rhythm and vast amounts of jazzy tunes, of two sisters from Ohio looking for success and glory in the big city. Lighter in tone than later works like West Side Story or Candide , its smart combination of the different musical traditions one could hear when wandering in the streets of New-York, its accomplished orchestral writing and colouring, and its vivid sense of comedy earned it no less than five Tony awards when it premiered in 1953.
A story of love and swing with a touch of social satire, it is here revived with all the energy and the sparkle one could hope for: from the highly effective scenography by Luc Londiveau and Gilles Papain to...
GENE KELLY - PAS DE DIEUX
Pas de Dieux tells the story of Aphrodite and Eros, who descend to earth. On the beach where they have landed, the ardent goddess and mischievous god seduce respectively a lifeguard and his fiancee. These newly-formed couples bask in the pleasures of love. Just when the beautiful Aphrodite is dancing with her suitor, Zeus arrives to win back his fickle wife, and everything returns to normal. The reconciled immortals return to Olympus, leaving the humans to their earthly loves.
This admirably constructed ballet by Gene Kelly faithfully follows the three movements of Gershwin's Concerto in F . The choreography is snappy and full of fantasy, each step a gag. Dancing while rolling the shoulders, knees bent and feet turned in perhaps constitutes an approach contrary to laws of aesthetics but it certainly complies with those of humour.
LEO STAATS - SOIR DE FETE
A choreographer appreciated by Balanchine, Leo Staats is a figure from the world of dance who does not enjoy the fame he deserves. Competing in his time with the scandalous Ballets Russes, he was a brilliant albeit discreet maitre de ballet and, above all, a great teacher. His choreographies had the merit of getting down to a task that was considerable at the time: restoring to favour the...
Pas de Dieux tells the story of Aphrodite and Eros, who descend to earth. On the beach where they have landed, the ardent goddess and mischievous god seduce respectively a lifeguard and his fiancee. These newly-formed couples bask in the pleasures of love. Just when the beautiful Aphrodite is dancing with her suitor, Zeus arrives to win back his fickle wife, and everything returns to normal. The reconciled immortals return to Olympus, leaving the humans to their earthly loves.
This admirably constructed ballet by Gene Kelly faithfully follows the three movements of Gershwin's Concerto in F . The choreography is snappy and full of fantasy, each step a gag. Dancing while rolling the shoulders, knees bent and feet turned in perhaps constitutes an approach contrary to laws of aesthetics but it certainly complies with those of humour.
LEO STAATS - SOIR DE FETE
A choreographer appreciated by Balanchine, Leo Staats is a figure from the world of dance who does not enjoy the fame he deserves. Competing in his time with the scandalous Ballets Russes, he was a brilliant albeit discreet maitre de ballet and, above all, a great teacher. His choreographies had the merit of getting down to a task that was considerable at the time: restoring to favour the...
In this remarkable film, Denis Sneguirev invites us to witness the rescue and revival of Moscow's legendary Bolshoi Theatre. In a mix of 3D images, animation, documentary footage and interviews, he recounts the history of the Bolshoi from its origins to the present day. Hitherto unknown archival material takes viewers back to a time when stars like Ulanova, Maximova, Plisetskaya, Vasiliev or Grigorovich graced the Bolshoi stage. Here we watch the teams of architechts engineers and construction workers labouring day and night to rebuild the theatre in the course of a colossal venture Russia's media dubbed the "construction project of the century."
The prodigious Lionel Bringuier (boasting "good instincts [...] bolstered by good taste plus a strong technique": Financial Times), just 24 in this delightful 2010 recording, conducts the BBC Orchestra in a generous program that opens with Berlioz's lighthearted, cheeky Le Corsaire Overture , continues with Albert Roussel's Symphony No. 3 brimming with adventure, perhaps the fruit of the composer's long experience as a sailor across the Atlantic and in Southeast Asia - and closes with the enchanting impressionism of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe . Don't miss this uniquely crafted concert guaranteed to stir the imagination!
800 liters of water, two sails, thirty pulleys, sixty hammocks: for the Bicentenary of the Teatro Real of Madrid, Deborah Warner coined a colossal production of Benjamin Britten's Billy Budd . A critically-acclaimed performance, praised for its depth and intelligence.
'Oh, what have I done?' Captain Edward Fairfax Vere, former commander of the H.M.S. Indomitable asks himself with horror at the beginning of the opera, before recounting the tragic events that took place aboard his ship in 1797. The story revolves around a young model sailor, Billy Budd, and John Claggart, the unscrupulous master-at-arms obsessed and crazed by Billy's angelic beauty; and follows the characters in their fall down to the most infernal depths of perversion and psychosis, exploring the themes of innocence, culpability, individual responsibility and justice. In this ambiguous and symbolic tale, drawn from Herman Melville's last masterpiece, the composer Benjamin Britten, who returns for the occasion to symphonic opera and its infinite possibilities, unsettles and disturbs us by revealing the complexity and universality of human experience. Far from writing the characters as allegories of Good and Evil, the opera shows us instead the remorseless logic followed by the surge of one's darkest desires....
'Oh, what have I done?' Captain Edward Fairfax Vere, former commander of the H.M.S. Indomitable asks himself with horror at the beginning of the opera, before recounting the tragic events that took place aboard his ship in 1797. The story revolves around a young model sailor, Billy Budd, and John Claggart, the unscrupulous master-at-arms obsessed and crazed by Billy's angelic beauty; and follows the characters in their fall down to the most infernal depths of perversion and psychosis, exploring the themes of innocence, culpability, individual responsibility and justice. In this ambiguous and symbolic tale, drawn from Herman Melville's last masterpiece, the composer Benjamin Britten, who returns for the occasion to symphonic opera and its infinite possibilities, unsettles and disturbs us by revealing the complexity and universality of human experience. Far from writing the characters as allegories of Good and Evil, the opera shows us instead the remorseless logic followed by the surge of one's darkest desires....
In London, a young governess is hired by the elegant and mysterious tutor of two children to supervise their education at Bly Manor, deep in the English countryside. Her employer imposes one strict condition, however: that hereafter he not be contacted under any circumstances. Assisted by an elderly housekeeper, Mrs. Grose, the young woman arrives at Bly and soon discovers that the seemingly angelic children (Miles, twelve, and Flora, eight) conceal a dark secret, namely the pernicious ghosts of two former domestics, Peter Quint and Miss Jessel, who force the children to keep the secret of their suspicious past and plan to take them under their ultimate control. This is what the Governess must face, either with the children or without them. Flora will be saved in extremis, but little Miles will perish in escaping - perhaps - from Quint's demonic clutches.
That was the big event of the Aix-en-Provence Festival 2001, The Turn of the Screw by Benjamin Britten has triumphed in a newly restored Theatre du Jeu de Paume. The production imagined by Luc Bondy extracts the essential of the libretto of Myfanwy Piper inspired by a story by Henry James. In an atmosphere reminding Hitchcock movies, where we can feel the tension, the stage director's work keep the suspense of the...
That was the big event of the Aix-en-Provence Festival 2001, The Turn of the Screw by Benjamin Britten has triumphed in a newly restored Theatre du Jeu de Paume. The production imagined by Luc Bondy extracts the essential of the libretto of Myfanwy Piper inspired by a story by Henry James. In an atmosphere reminding Hitchcock movies, where we can feel the tension, the stage director's work keep the suspense of the...
World-famous choreographer and dancer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui uses the body - movement - as the principal vehicle for is ideas. The result is there in performances, intimist or otherwise, in which the body is displayed to an audience. Here, in four different settings - Belgium, China, Corsica, India - we make the acquaintance of one of the most prolific and likeable figures on today's dance scene. In the course of interviews and excerpts from his performances Cherkaoui reveals his passion for the dance, spirituality, his childhood and his family
Eclipsed in popularity for decades by its Italian translation, the original French libretto to Cherubini's masterpiece has recently found renewed favor with opera companies around the world. An eclectic vision of Medee , an opera comique in three acts with both spoken dialogue and arias, is presented here by the visionary stage director Krzysztof Warlikowski. Atop a narrative framework set in Ancient Greece and inspired by the famous tragedy of Euripedes, 1960s-era videos, music, and costumes flesh out a set of strikingly contemporary characters on the Brussels stage.
The impeccable interpretation of the score by Les Talens Lyriques, under the baton of Christophe Rousset, nonetheless keeps us firmly ensconced in the beguiling musical ambiance envisioned by Cherubini. The expressive Nadja Michael shines in the title role, as does Kurt Streit playing Jason, newly back from his quest for the golden fleece. The Greek hero, who spurned Medea's advances during his return trip home, falls in love with Dirce, daughter of King Creon. Their wedding preparations are going well and the royal subjects are rejoicing-but nobody is prepared for the return of the cruel Medea, who has vowed to exact vengeance on her erstwhile lover and all those he holds dear.
The impeccable interpretation of the score by Les Talens Lyriques, under the baton of Christophe Rousset, nonetheless keeps us firmly ensconced in the beguiling musical ambiance envisioned by Cherubini. The expressive Nadja Michael shines in the title role, as does Kurt Streit playing Jason, newly back from his quest for the golden fleece. The Greek hero, who spurned Medea's advances during his return trip home, falls in love with Dirce, daughter of King Creon. Their wedding preparations are going well and the royal subjects are rejoicing-but nobody is prepared for the return of the cruel Medea, who has vowed to exact vengeance on her erstwhile lover and all those he holds dear.
In granting us the rare privilege of entry, the Beijing Opera School offers access to the age-old art from of traditional Chinese opera. Based on a typical day for students and their teachers, the film lets us follow them through dawn-to-dusk activities that include acrobatics, classes in singing, music and dance, makeup sessions, schoolwork, rehearsals and performances. This is a total immersion in an establishment where discipline is, in many respects, that of a military academy.
For more than 20 years, the choir Accentus has performed choral music in all its diversity. For Christmas 2009, Accentus, Laurence Equilbey and their guests created the event with a programme featuring some of the most famous sacred music pieces at the Church of Saint Thomas in Strasbourg to hear the most beautiful Christmas songs interpreted by: Concerto Koln, Sandrine Piau (Soprano), Nathalie Stutzmann (Alto), Pavol Breslik (Tenor), Johannes Weisser (Bass), Sonia Wieder Atherton (Cello), Aurelie Saraf (Harp) and Daniel Maurer, organist of the Church of St. Thomas.
The concert begins with Berlioz's Roman Carnival Overture , composed in 1844 and ends with Saint-Saens's 3rd Symphony in C minor . This Organ Symphony , dating from 1885-86, is dedicated to Franz Liszt , who had recently died.
Between these two works, the internationally celebrated Argentine pianist Martha Argerich and the equally talented American Nicholas Angelich join to interpret Francis Poulenc's Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra , a joyous score in the musical spirit of the 1930s.
The Korean conductor-pianist Myung-Whun Chung, aged 62, conducts the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, which he has shaped over many long years.
Between these two works, the internationally celebrated Argentine pianist Martha Argerich and the equally talented American Nicholas Angelich join to interpret Francis Poulenc's Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra , a joyous score in the musical spirit of the 1930s.
The Korean conductor-pianist Myung-Whun Chung, aged 62, conducts the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, which he has shaped over many long years.
Pelleas et Melisande from the Opernhaus Zurich should be remembered as one of Dmitri Tcherniakov's most innovative production. Forget about the fountains, the caverns, the forest, the castles and the towers: here, the density of Maurice Maeterlinck's and Claude Debussy's symbolism becomes the starting point of an analytical journey into the human mind : it is now the psychoanalyst, "doctor" Golaud, who has to uncover the secrets of Melisande, an unfortunate and traumatized creature he brings home, and whose silence and puzzling attitude eventually bring him on the verge of insanity.
But the production is also the occasion for a reunion between Dmitri Tcherniakov and French conductor Alain Altinoglu, after the tremendous success of the Tchaikovsky dyptich Iolanta / The Nutcracker - arguably one of the most successful titles of the Bel Air Classiques catalogue. Their artistic complicity is intact: the precise, analytical but also nuanced and poetic baton of Altinoglu proves to be the best possible response to Tcherniakov's subtle exploration of the human psychology. Corinne Winters, as Melisande, Jacques Imbrailo, as Pelleas, and especially Kyle Ketelsen, as Golaud, embody with an incandescent realism these characters plagued by a form of evil and violence that we...
But the production is also the occasion for a reunion between Dmitri Tcherniakov and French conductor Alain Altinoglu, after the tremendous success of the Tchaikovsky dyptich Iolanta / The Nutcracker - arguably one of the most successful titles of the Bel Air Classiques catalogue. Their artistic complicity is intact: the precise, analytical but also nuanced and poetic baton of Altinoglu proves to be the best possible response to Tcherniakov's subtle exploration of the human psychology. Corinne Winters, as Melisande, Jacques Imbrailo, as Pelleas, and especially Kyle Ketelsen, as Golaud, embody with an incandescent realism these characters plagued by a form of evil and violence that we...
Leo Delibes's Coppelia is not only a collection of fine dances. It is primarily an abrasive and sardonic comedy, which is somewhat unusual in the world of classical ballet. But most importantly, it is a comedy for which excellent music was composed. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's assessment of Delibes's ballet scores, allegedly capable of overshadowing the choreography itself, is well known: "What beauty, what elegance, what richness of melody, rhythm and harmony!" It is not fortuitous that music from this ballet should be performed, for its own merits, during concerts.
Funnily enough, the main theme of this light-hearted ballet is taken from E.T.A. Hoffmann's anything but joyful novellas - mainly from The Sandman. In Hoffmann's tale, the young man's infatuation with the doll ends tragically, while in the ballet, the lively and energetic Swanilda (Frantz's fiancee) is able to over wit the old Coppelius, the cunning inventor of the "Girl with the enamel eyes" and free her lover from the doll's poisonous charm.
Coppelia was premiered in 1870 at the Paris Opera on choreographer Arthur Saint-Leon's initiative. A virtuoso dancer, Saint-Leon was Marius Petipa's predecessor as Head of the Petersburg Ballet. His interest in folk culture, music and dance, is mainly responsible for...
Funnily enough, the main theme of this light-hearted ballet is taken from E.T.A. Hoffmann's anything but joyful novellas - mainly from The Sandman. In Hoffmann's tale, the young man's infatuation with the doll ends tragically, while in the ballet, the lively and energetic Swanilda (Frantz's fiancee) is able to over wit the old Coppelius, the cunning inventor of the "Girl with the enamel eyes" and free her lover from the doll's poisonous charm.
Coppelia was premiered in 1870 at the Paris Opera on choreographer Arthur Saint-Leon's initiative. A virtuoso dancer, Saint-Leon was Marius Petipa's predecessor as Head of the Petersburg Ballet. His interest in folk culture, music and dance, is mainly responsible for...
The "Scala Academy Project" has chosen an opera by Donizetti never before performed on the Scala stage. Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali (Viva la mamma!) is a dramma giocoso which premiered in Naples in 1827.
Italian actor, director and writer Antonio Albanese, a true master of wit and satire, made his debut as opera director. The Orchestra is conducted by Marco Guidarini.
Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali was inspired by two comedies written by Antonio Simone Sografi between 1794 and 1816. It follows the theatrical tradition of Goldoni, Gozzi and Metastasio, and subjects the bad habits of the operatic world to biting and sardonic criticism. The opera pokes fun at the "rights, either real or presumed, that each opera artist assumes to possess and which leads them to not liking particular operas or dances, irritating the public, ruining impresarios and ridiculing virtuosos".
Italian actor, director and writer Antonio Albanese, a true master of wit and satire, made his debut as opera director. The Orchestra is conducted by Marco Guidarini.
Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali was inspired by two comedies written by Antonio Simone Sografi between 1794 and 1816. It follows the theatrical tradition of Goldoni, Gozzi and Metastasio, and subjects the bad habits of the operatic world to biting and sardonic criticism. The opera pokes fun at the "rights, either real or presumed, that each opera artist assumes to possess and which leads them to not liking particular operas or dances, irritating the public, ruining impresarios and ridiculing virtuosos".
A night at the opera, with a comic jewel in the great tradition of the Neapolitan opera buffa: Donizetti's elegant take on the genre, with the verve of baritone Simone Alaimo and the virtuosity of soprano Patrizia Ciofi.
Close to sixty, wealthy fuddy-duddy Don Pasquale is maddened by the idea that when he dies, all his worldly goods will go to his nephew Ernesto, whom he regards as a simpleton: hasn't the young man fallen for Norina, charming but without a penny to her name? So Don Pasquale decides to get married himself, and produce deserving heirs. Doctor Malatesta, a family friend, introduces him to his sister, Sofronia: submissive, virtuous and hardworking, she seems to be just what Don Pasquale wants. Alas, after the wedding, the new wife turns into an insufferable shrew - and a flighty spendthrift into the bargain.
Close to sixty, wealthy fuddy-duddy Don Pasquale is maddened by the idea that when he dies, all his worldly goods will go to his nephew Ernesto, whom he regards as a simpleton: hasn't the young man fallen for Norina, charming but without a penny to her name? So Don Pasquale decides to get married himself, and produce deserving heirs. Doctor Malatesta, a family friend, introduces him to his sister, Sofronia: submissive, virtuous and hardworking, she seems to be just what Don Pasquale wants. Alas, after the wedding, the new wife turns into an insufferable shrew - and a flighty spendthrift into the bargain.
After an absence of almost twenty years L'elisir d'amore is back at the Paris Opera in a crazy version by Laurent Pelly.
The plot is simple but effective: a shy, naive young peasant buys a love philtre from a quack - all he gets, in fact, is a flask of wine - in order to win the heart of the girl he is in love with; in the end, and with no help from the philtre, she will realise that she loves him too. Add to this a sparkling musical language and marvellously inspired melodies - including the legendary "Una Furtiva Lagrima" - and you have the authentic masterpiece Donizetti turned out in just two weeks.
Transposing the plot to the Italy of the 1950s, director Laurent Pelly offers us an absolute jewel, beautifully crafted and shot through with poetry.
The plot is simple but effective: a shy, naive young peasant buys a love philtre from a quack - all he gets, in fact, is a flask of wine - in order to win the heart of the girl he is in love with; in the end, and with no help from the philtre, she will realise that she loves him too. Add to this a sparkling musical language and marvellously inspired melodies - including the legendary "Una Furtiva Lagrima" - and you have the authentic masterpiece Donizetti turned out in just two weeks.
Transposing the plot to the Italy of the 1950s, director Laurent Pelly offers us an absolute jewel, beautifully crafted and shot through with poetry.
The reopening show of the historical stage of the Bolshoi Theatre by Jurowski and Tcherniakov.
Ruslan and Lyudmila , the fable of Mikhail Glinka (from a poem of Pushkin), and symbolic Russian opera in itself, was an apposite choice to open the 2011-2012 of the majestic Moscow opera, after its long renovation.
Tcherniakov transposes Glinka's opera into the 21st century exposing the protagonists exposing the protagonists to contemporary forms of temptations: a harem for Ruslan, and a Thai massage for Lyudmila.
Vladimir Jurowski conducts The Bolshoi Theater Orchestra and a magnificent and soloists Albina Shagimuratova, Mikhail Petrenko, Alexandrina Pendatchanska, Charles Workman and Elena Zaremba in this production acclaimed for its musical quality and its staging.
Ruslan and Lyudmila , the fable of Mikhail Glinka (from a poem of Pushkin), and symbolic Russian opera in itself, was an apposite choice to open the 2011-2012 of the majestic Moscow opera, after its long renovation.
Tcherniakov transposes Glinka's opera into the 21st century exposing the protagonists exposing the protagonists to contemporary forms of temptations: a harem for Ruslan, and a Thai massage for Lyudmila.
Vladimir Jurowski conducts The Bolshoi Theater Orchestra and a magnificent and soloists Albina Shagimuratova, Mikhail Petrenko, Alexandrina Pendatchanska, Charles Workman and Elena Zaremba in this production acclaimed for its musical quality and its staging.
Roberto Alagna as Orpheus in his brother David?EUR(TM)s new version of the Gluck masterpiece. A major event recorded in Bologna.
Opting for the French-language version of Gluck's Orpheus , David Alagna was faced with the task of achieving an appropriately subtle adaptation. In a plot transposed to the present day, Eurydice dies in a car accident on the day of her wedding, and Orpheus's quest for his beloved is a dream beginning and ending at the cemetery. No happy ending in this interpretation, but a new approach to characterisation: Amore, sung by a baritone, becomes a funeral parlour employee and Orpheus's guide. And Orpheus, of course, loses his loved one forever by turning to look back.
The enormously talented Roberto Alagna throws himself body and soul into this production. His incredible vitality and flawless timbre and diction make him a great Orpheus. His partner, young Italian soprano Serena Gamberoni, is simply stunning as Euridice, while French baritone Marc Barrard is suitably terrifying as the guide to the Underworld. The orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna is conducted by Giampaolo Bisanti, who masterfully brings out all Gluck's poetry, romantic melancholy and depth.
Opting for the French-language version of Gluck's Orpheus , David Alagna was faced with the task of achieving an appropriately subtle adaptation. In a plot transposed to the present day, Eurydice dies in a car accident on the day of her wedding, and Orpheus's quest for his beloved is a dream beginning and ending at the cemetery. No happy ending in this interpretation, but a new approach to characterisation: Amore, sung by a baritone, becomes a funeral parlour employee and Orpheus's guide. And Orpheus, of course, loses his loved one forever by turning to look back.
The enormously talented Roberto Alagna throws himself body and soul into this production. His incredible vitality and flawless timbre and diction make him a great Orpheus. His partner, young Italian soprano Serena Gamberoni, is simply stunning as Euridice, while French baritone Marc Barrard is suitably terrifying as the guide to the Underworld. The orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna is conducted by Giampaolo Bisanti, who masterfully brings out all Gluck's poetry, romantic melancholy and depth.
Considered one of the greatest European choreographers of our time, Heinz Spoerli has created a Peer Gynt that combines the lyrical with the grotesque, the fantastical universe of gnomes with the reality of the modern world, and philosophy with folklore. Mischievous moments give a touch of lightness to the legend's tragic theme.
For this production, the contemporary composers Brett Dean and Mark-Anthony Turnage adapted Grieg's score at the choreographer's direction. The talented young conductor Eivind Gullberg Jensen joins forces with soprano Christiane Kohl and dancer Yen Han (who together personify Solveig), and with dancer Marijn Rademaker and actor Philipp Schepmann (who bring Peer Gynt himself to life).
For this production, the contemporary composers Brett Dean and Mark-Anthony Turnage adapted Grieg's score at the choreographer's direction. The talented young conductor Eivind Gullberg Jensen joins forces with soprano Christiane Kohl and dancer Yen Han (who together personify Solveig), and with dancer Marijn Rademaker and actor Philipp Schepmann (who bring Peer Gynt himself to life).
Grace and ingenuity come together in this ballet by esteemed choreographer Mark Morris, whose vision takes center stage at the Teatro Real de Madrid in L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato , brought to life by exquisite dancers inspired by Handel's pastoral ode. Soloists Sarah-Jane Brandon, Elizabeth Watts, James Gilchrist, and Andrew Foster-Williams sing the poetry of John Milton, accompanied by the theatre's choir and orchestra under the esteemed maestra Jane Glover.
As the work unfolds, the minimalist set design by Adrianna Lobel alternately contrasts with and complements the sobriety of the costumes, playing subtly on the use of color throughout. The ample space created by the decor, brimming with shadows and light, gives the Mark Morris Dance Group an immense canvas on which to project their stunning art-and the eclectic convergence of dance and music expresses the wide variety of moods and emotions inherent in the Baroque style, luminous and witty, certain to leave viewers with lasting joy!
As the work unfolds, the minimalist set design by Adrianna Lobel alternately contrasts with and complements the sobriety of the costumes, playing subtly on the use of color throughout. The ample space created by the decor, brimming with shadows and light, gives the Mark Morris Dance Group an immense canvas on which to project their stunning art-and the eclectic convergence of dance and music expresses the wide variety of moods and emotions inherent in the Baroque style, luminous and witty, certain to leave viewers with lasting joy!
As the first collaboration ever between conductor William Christie and director Luc Bondy, this production of Hercules was the major event of the 2004 opera season. Originally Created in Aix-en-Provence in July 2004, the show then moved on to the Palais Garnier in Paris where it was recorded in December of the same year.
The Hercules received the student prize at the Golden Prague 2005.
The Hercules received the student prize at the Golden Prague 2005.
The 70 dancers of the Igor Moiseyev Ballet take us on a journey around the world and through the regions of Soviet Union, revealing an incredible multitude of folklores, including Moldovan, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Nanai, Kalmyk, Tatar, Adjaran and Caucasian. 14 dazzling, surprising and joyful ballets, including the major works from the repertoire of Igor Moiseyev. A show acclaimed throughout the world!
The House of the Dead is the moniker accorded to the Siberian labour camp by those who are held within it: thieves, killers, political prisoners. This is a place in which captives are incessantly monitored and punished. With its very own rules involving power and submission; its hierarchies and bullying by those in authority; this is a place far from civilisation, which acts both as its blind spot and its mirror. Based on Fyodor Dostoyevsky's classic novel The House of the Dead , in which the author processes his own four-year incarceration, Leos Janacek created a singular work of musical theatre. This is an opera without heroes; without the standard plot revolving around conflict and its subsequent resolution. Against a backdrop of the tedium and gruelling routine of camp life, Janacek allows individual prisoners and their stories to emerge briefly from the multitude. He draws out personal journeys marked by humiliation and abuse. Janacek's unique musical idiom feels like eavesdropping and provides a raw, gestural expression for the brutality faced in the camp, but also for the moments of shared hope, compassion and solidarity.
Katia Kabanova is an opera in three acts sung in Czech, which libretto by Vincenc Cervinka was inspired by Alexander Ostrovsky's play The Storm. The story takes place on the banks of the Volga. Katia, a young, sensible and sincere woman, is married to Tichon Kabanov, whose mother profoundly despises her. She is in love with Boris and dreams of going away from the solitude of her home to experience liberty and true love. One night, when her husband is away, she secretly meets Boris, and the two lovers tell each other about their feelings. But Katia, tormented by guilt, confesses everything when her husband comes back. Pressure and rejection by society constrain her to commit a tragic act to end her suffering.
This opera by Leos Janacek was premiered in 1921. It contains all the natural elements that Janacek loves such as wind, water, storms... as well as a presentation of profound and true human feelings. This opera brilliantly combines Russian theater and romantic and post-romantic Czech music.
This opera by Leos Janacek was premiered in 1921. It contains all the natural elements that Janacek loves such as wind, water, storms... as well as a presentation of profound and true human feelings. This opera brilliantly combines Russian theater and romantic and post-romantic Czech music.
A major figure on the contemporary choreography scene, Bil T. Jones is also a remarkable dance and a performer with an electrifying stage presence. Here, alone in a studio and filmed from a totally cinematic point of view, he speaks to us of violence, gentleness and emotion in three short pieces: Ionization, to music by Edgar Varese; Chaconne, from Bach's Partita for Solo Violin in D minor; and Tea for Two , the famous classic song.
With the complicity of the excellent Royal Swedish Ballet, Alexander Ekman makes dreams dance in a new surprising, lyrical and cosmic choreographical piece.
After the instant success of Midsummer Night's Dream , exploring the density of traditional mysticism and the maze of imagination, choreographer Alexander Ekman and the Royal Swedish Ballet once again brings us on a dancing journey through the looking glass, beyond our own reality. Known for the spectacular quality of his pieces and the oneiric imagery he tends to deploy, Ekman seamlessly takes us from one unlikely situation from the next, thanks to the incredible technical maestria and versatility of the Royal Swedish Ballet dancers. "I like creating worlds that have never been seen before", Ekman wrote while creating Play with the Paris Opera Ballet : without ever sacrificing lyrical beauty and deep contemplation to pointless incongruity, Eskapist proves once again that the theatrical stage truly is a magic place, where the world as we know it shifts shapes only to dissolve into the most poetic fantasies one could envision.
Once more, Ekman has sought support from his long-term acolyte, Swedish composer Mikael Karlsson , whose entrancing music follows the wide range of styles mobilized by Ekman: sometimes...
After the instant success of Midsummer Night's Dream , exploring the density of traditional mysticism and the maze of imagination, choreographer Alexander Ekman and the Royal Swedish Ballet once again brings us on a dancing journey through the looking glass, beyond our own reality. Known for the spectacular quality of his pieces and the oneiric imagery he tends to deploy, Ekman seamlessly takes us from one unlikely situation from the next, thanks to the incredible technical maestria and versatility of the Royal Swedish Ballet dancers. "I like creating worlds that have never been seen before", Ekman wrote while creating Play with the Paris Opera Ballet : without ever sacrificing lyrical beauty and deep contemplation to pointless incongruity, Eskapist proves once again that the theatrical stage truly is a magic place, where the world as we know it shifts shapes only to dissolve into the most poetic fantasies one could envision.
Once more, Ekman has sought support from his long-term acolyte, Swedish composer Mikael Karlsson , whose entrancing music follows the wide range of styles mobilized by Ekman: sometimes...
An overpowering and paradoxical perfume of dream and reality floats around La Traviata , as if the life and death of this so-called 'errant' woman seem more real and more elusive than those of other opera heroines. It is with this perfume, composed of rare flower essences, of alcohols, of prescription drugs, of skins caressed, of seemingly odourless money, that Giuseppe Verdi deeply impregnated his musical material, just at the time when the perfume of the story of the courtesan Marie Duplessis, who died in 1847, six years before the opera was created in Venice, was evaporating.
In Traviata - You Deserve a Better Future , the audience is invited into Violetta's privacy to have a close look at the fire to which she abandons herself among the guests of this musical and phantasmagorical celebration that blends theatre and opera, voices that speak and sing; and where the distinction between the instrumentalists and the singers becomes blurred, where Charles Baudelaire is seated next to Christophe Tarkos, and where the phantoms of this Paris in full industrial boom whose future we are living in at present, sing and die.
In Traviata - You Deserve a Better Future , the audience is invited into Violetta's privacy to have a close look at the fire to which she abandons herself among the guests of this musical and phantasmagorical celebration that blends theatre and opera, voices that speak and sing; and where the distinction between the instrumentalists and the singers becomes blurred, where Charles Baudelaire is seated next to Christophe Tarkos, and where the phantoms of this Paris in full industrial boom whose future we are living in at present, sing and die.
In his Parisian living room, music critic Andre Tubeuf (1930-2021) tells, with his knowledge, his language and his memory, the story of the German Lied. From Mozart and Beethoven to Mahler and Strauss, through Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and Wolf , a major part of the European culture and of music history is reborn before our eyes and ears.
Featuring Episode 1 entitled Mozart and Beethoven - The Lied's Dawn from a series of seven episodes filmed by Martin Mirabel.
Featuring Episode 1 entitled Mozart and Beethoven - The Lied's Dawn from a series of seven episodes filmed by Martin Mirabel.
Marius Petipa's exotic ballet, set in legendary and mysterious India, is a story of love, death and vengeful judgement. Yuri Grigorovich's sumptuous recreation of Petipa's choreography, with breathtaking sets and costumes designed by Nikolay Sharonov, stars Svetlana Zakharova as the Bayadere Nikiya, Vladislav Lantratov as Solor and Maria Alexandrova as Gamzatti whose alluring presence challenges Solor's love for Nikiya.
The Bolchoi Theatre Orchestra is conduced by Pavel Sorokin.
The Bolchoi Theatre Orchestra is conduced by Pavel Sorokin.
The purity of classical dance meets the opulant exoticism of the Maharajas' India in this 150-year-old ballet, glorified by Nacho Duato for the Mikhailovsky Ballet.
Of Ancient India, composer Ludwig Minkus made in his La Bayadere the shiny background of the tragic love story between a priestess and a warrior, unable to get together in this world or in the next. For this new production with the Mikhailovsky Ballet, of which he is the artistic director, Spanish choreographer Nacho Duato created a new version extremely respectful of Marius Petipa's original, preserving the traditional synopsis and the great coups de theatre of the libretto, and keeping the original choreography for the most famous scenes. But at the same time, he liberates the ballet from the weight of its own anachronism, removes the episodes of pointless pantomime, and relocates it in a extravagant, lavish and colourful set.
Before working on La Bayadere, Duato had already tackled some of the great classics of the Russian classical ballet school: his original versions of Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker , both commissionned by the Mikhailovsky, have since then toured in the whole world and were met with tremendous success - from Milan and Berlin to Novossibirsk. For this new project, he surrounds...
Of Ancient India, composer Ludwig Minkus made in his La Bayadere the shiny background of the tragic love story between a priestess and a warrior, unable to get together in this world or in the next. For this new production with the Mikhailovsky Ballet, of which he is the artistic director, Spanish choreographer Nacho Duato created a new version extremely respectful of Marius Petipa's original, preserving the traditional synopsis and the great coups de theatre of the libretto, and keeping the original choreography for the most famous scenes. But at the same time, he liberates the ballet from the weight of its own anachronism, removes the episodes of pointless pantomime, and relocates it in a extravagant, lavish and colourful set.
Before working on La Bayadere, Duato had already tackled some of the great classics of the Russian classical ballet school: his original versions of Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker , both commissionned by the Mikhailovsky, have since then toured in the whole world and were met with tremendous success - from Milan and Berlin to Novossibirsk. For this new project, he surrounds...
Are we ever honest enough to be unaffected by lies? This is the question asked by Henrik Ibsen's drama Ghosts (Gengangere). Oswald Alving returns from a bohemian existence in Paris to small-town Norway. Encountering people who do not communicate, Oswald responds by becoming ironic and distant. He gradually learns more of the secrets that weigh on his family, as well as those inside himself. His mother, Mrs. Alving, welcomes her much-missed son home - and slowly understands what, or whom, he has brought home with him.
Ghosts is a psychological thriller in which the characters learn more and more about their own stories, says director Marit Moum Aune. It's about how the unsaid can grow to become insuperable. Immense courage is required to make peace with one's illusions.
Together with the young, critically acclaimed choreographer Cina Espejord, she retells Ibsen's play as a ballet. The pair feel the story is suited to dance because both its inner and outer brutality can be pitted against the power of dance.
Ibsen's Ghosts is an evocative production in a modern dance style. Nils Petter Molvaer has composed new music, which he performs on-stage together with Jan Bang.
Ghosts is a psychological thriller in which the characters learn more and more about their own stories, says director Marit Moum Aune. It's about how the unsaid can grow to become insuperable. Immense courage is required to make peace with one's illusions.
Together with the young, critically acclaimed choreographer Cina Espejord, she retells Ibsen's play as a ballet. The pair feel the story is suited to dance because both its inner and outer brutality can be pitted against the power of dance.
Ibsen's Ghosts is an evocative production in a modern dance style. Nils Petter Molvaer has composed new music, which he performs on-stage together with Jan Bang.
The renowned collaborations between Zurich Opera and Nikolaus Harnoncourt in the 1970s and early '80s were crucial milestones in projecting historically-aware performance away from historicism-for-its-own-sake, towards vitally-conceived productions for contemporary audiences. Il Ritorno enjoyed great success in 1977, in Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's imaginative staging, in which Harnoncourt's opulent instrumental palette lifted the hearts of many, though only the eyebrows of the purists. In this musical 'revival' (the production is entirely new with its simple, fresh, whitewashed, open space and modern mosaic floor), to celebrate 25 years of the swashbuckling original, Harnoncourt allows the nobility of the score to roll unimpeded by the driven intensity of the older recorded account on Teldec from 1971 (9/89R).
The vocal contributions are also more eloquent than ever with outstanding contributions from the two protagonists, Vesselina Kasarova and Dietrich Henschel; can Monteverdi have ever heard this, his first opera for Venice's Teatro San Cassiano in 1640, sung with such an extraordinary range of vocal beauty and immediacy of expression? This extends to all the characters, notably in the wonderful discussion between the truculent Neptune and appeasing Jupiter, in Act 1,...
The vocal contributions are also more eloquent than ever with outstanding contributions from the two protagonists, Vesselina Kasarova and Dietrich Henschel; can Monteverdi have ever heard this, his first opera for Venice's Teatro San Cassiano in 1640, sung with such an extraordinary range of vocal beauty and immediacy of expression? This extends to all the characters, notably in the wonderful discussion between the truculent Neptune and appeasing Jupiter, in Act 1,...
Recorded at the Thtre des Champs-Elyses in June 2004, this Marriage of Figaro was unanimously acclaimed by the public and critics alike as a Mozart opera landmark.
Director Jean-Louis Martinoty brings an elegantly intelligent narrative sense to an interpretation in which the protagonists, against a backdrop of magnificent canvases of 18th-century inspiration, are dressed by Sylvie de Segonzac in a palette in which every shade is perfect. Hans Schavernoch's set suggests an elitist society that is coming apart at the seams.
Ren Jacobs's conducting of Concerto Kln is meticulous and perfectly balanced, offering a ravishing use of tonal colour and orchestral dynamics.
A veteran Almaviva, the excellent Pietro Spagnoli plays opposite Annette Dasch's beauteous Countess. As Figaro and Susanna, Luca Pisaroni and Rosemary Joshua are a truly sparkling couple, while mezzo Angelika Kirchschlager embodies the most divinely troubling Cherubino.
Director Jean-Louis Martinoty brings an elegantly intelligent narrative sense to an interpretation in which the protagonists, against a backdrop of magnificent canvases of 18th-century inspiration, are dressed by Sylvie de Segonzac in a palette in which every shade is perfect. Hans Schavernoch's set suggests an elitist society that is coming apart at the seams.
Ren Jacobs's conducting of Concerto Kln is meticulous and perfectly balanced, offering a ravishing use of tonal colour and orchestral dynamics.
A veteran Almaviva, the excellent Pietro Spagnoli plays opposite Annette Dasch's beauteous Countess. As Figaro and Susanna, Luca Pisaroni and Rosemary Joshua are a truly sparkling couple, while mezzo Angelika Kirchschlager embodies the most divinely troubling Cherubino.
Any reprise of the Strehler Nozze di Figaro has to be a major event. And in 2010, thirty-seven years after its premiere, the work met with a fresh triumph at the Opera Bastille, featuring a new generation of performers: Ludovic Tezier as Count Almaviva, Barbara Frittoli as Countess Almaviva, Ekaterina Siurina as Susanna, Luca Pisaroni as Figaro and Karine Deshayes as Cherubino.
Filmed at the Paris Opera with Philippe Jordan as the musical director, he revealed the Orchestra and Chorus of the Opera National de Paris at the height of their powers.
The program also include bonus interview featuring Humbert Camerlo, who worked for many years with Giorgio Strehler and was the stage director for this reprise.
Filmed at the Paris Opera with Philippe Jordan as the musical director, he revealed the Orchestra and Chorus of the Opera National de Paris at the height of their powers.
The program also include bonus interview featuring Humbert Camerlo, who worked for many years with Giorgio Strehler and was the stage director for this reprise.
Child murder, scheming monks and a tsar lapsing into madness - Modest Mussorgsky spread the thematic arc wide in his choral opera, which he began to work on from 1868, and with which he attempted to awaken an awareness of his own time through the indirect route of a historic story.
As an artist of the 19th century, he was driven by the psychology of the masses. Thus, in Boris Godunov , alongside the hero of the title, the main role is actually taken primarily by the Russian people, rejoicing, starving, demanding and questioning.
With the participation of conductor Kent Nagano , catalan stage director Calixto Bieito proposes an original reading of this brilliant work. The cast leaded by Alexander Tsymbaliuk (Boris) associates Gerhard Siegel (Schuisky), Markus Eiche (Chelkalov) and Anatoli Kotscherga (Pimen).
As an artist of the 19th century, he was driven by the psychology of the masses. Thus, in Boris Godunov , alongside the hero of the title, the main role is actually taken primarily by the Russian people, rejoicing, starving, demanding and questioning.
With the participation of conductor Kent Nagano , catalan stage director Calixto Bieito proposes an original reading of this brilliant work. The cast leaded by Alexander Tsymbaliuk (Boris) associates Gerhard Siegel (Schuisky), Markus Eiche (Chelkalov) and Anatoli Kotscherga (Pimen).
A truly remarkable New Year's Eve in St. Petersburg's fabled Mariinsky Theatre, with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky (ex-Kirov) Ballet.
It was at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg that the ballet The Sleeping Beauty premiered in 1890, with a score by Tchaikovsky and choreography by Marius Petipa. This New Year's Eve programme revolves around Act III, in which Princess Aurora is brought out of her long sleep by the prince of her dreams and marries him. This is the Mariinsky troupe in a veritable explosion of grace and virtuosity.
In addition, prima ballerina Uliana Lopatkina dances Camille Saint-Saens famous Dying Swan , first performed by Anna Pavlova.
In conclusion the soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre's Young Singers' Academy perform the finale of Rossini's Journey to Rheims in a joyous celebration of the coming of the New Year.
It was at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg that the ballet The Sleeping Beauty premiered in 1890, with a score by Tchaikovsky and choreography by Marius Petipa. This New Year's Eve programme revolves around Act III, in which Princess Aurora is brought out of her long sleep by the prince of her dreams and marries him. This is the Mariinsky troupe in a veritable explosion of grace and virtuosity.
In addition, prima ballerina Uliana Lopatkina dances Camille Saint-Saens famous Dying Swan , first performed by Anna Pavlova.
In conclusion the soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre's Young Singers' Academy perform the finale of Rossini's Journey to Rheims in a joyous celebration of the coming of the New Year.
Offenbach?EUR(TM)s Les Contes d'Hoffmann, staged by Olivier Py. High art at Geneva?EUR(TM)s Grand Thtre!
Three fables. A man falls in love with a doll, a young woman sings herself to death and a courtesan steals her lovers' reflections. "Three women in the same woman," and the same number of stories told by Hoffmann. A picture of the cursed artist slipping through women's arms into those of his muse, under the treacherous eye of the evil one, the latter also appearing in three diabolical incarnations. Intertwining themes borrowed from the German poet, the libretto fed the composer's fantasies with material both fantastic and fanciful, sustaining his dreams that this work would one day be a triumph at the Opra Comique. Alas, he was to die before he could see it performed.
Baroque and mystical, carnal yet metaphysical, Olivier Py's theatrical universe comes into its own when highlighting the oddities of this truly singular work.
Three fables. A man falls in love with a doll, a young woman sings herself to death and a courtesan steals her lovers' reflections. "Three women in the same woman," and the same number of stories told by Hoffmann. A picture of the cursed artist slipping through women's arms into those of his muse, under the treacherous eye of the evil one, the latter also appearing in three diabolical incarnations. Intertwining themes borrowed from the German poet, the libretto fed the composer's fantasies with material both fantastic and fanciful, sustaining his dreams that this work would one day be a triumph at the Opra Comique. Alas, he was to die before he could see it performed.
Baroque and mystical, carnal yet metaphysical, Olivier Py's theatrical universe comes into its own when highlighting the oddities of this truly singular work.
Paul Taylor is widely considered to be one of the foremost American choreographers of the 20th century. Paul Taylor is among the last living members of the second generation of America's modern dance artists. He has continued to win acclaim for his recent creations as well as stagings of his earlier works. As prolific as ever, he may propel his dancers through space for the sheer beauty of it, or use them to wordlessly illuminate war, spirituality, sexuality, morality and mortality. This program recorded in 2012 at the Theatre National de Chaillot in Paris is composed of two ballets.
Rife with historical references, Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites is a 20th-century opera masterpiece and an insightful exploration of wide-reaching themes: life, death, honor, and religion. In 1789, at the beginning of French Revolution, Blanche de la Force-daughter of a nobleman-senses the rising wave of anti-aristocratic sentiment and decides to become a nun, hoping to find safety in the convent. After their prioress dies, the whole convent-including the new Sister Blanche of the Agony of Christ-take a vow of martyrdom and, when sentenced to death, resign themselves to their fate, singing the moving "Salve Regina" as they march to the guillotine.
Visionary Russian stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov, winner of four Golden Mask awards for Best Director, transposes Poulenc's opera into a Soviet context, with sparse and unadorned scenography and a stellar cast that includes Susan Gritton as Sister Blanche and Bernard Richter as her brother, the Chevalier de la Force. Under the baton of the great Kent Nagano, the Orchestra and Choir of the Bayerische Staatsoper bring out the poetry in Poulenc's opera, with its "subtle and intricate tonal language [that] is by turns hymnal and haunting" (Anthony Tommasini).
Visionary Russian stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov, winner of four Golden Mask awards for Best Director, transposes Poulenc's opera into a Soviet context, with sparse and unadorned scenography and a stellar cast that includes Susan Gritton as Sister Blanche and Bernard Richter as her brother, the Chevalier de la Force. Under the baton of the great Kent Nagano, the Orchestra and Choir of the Bayerische Staatsoper bring out the poetry in Poulenc's opera, with its "subtle and intricate tonal language [that] is by turns hymnal and haunting" (Anthony Tommasini).
2004 production of Prokofiev's The Love for Three Oranges, performed in the theatre of Grand Saint-Jean. The cast list suggested Larissa Gergieva's Mariinsky Theatre young singers academy had set up their summer camp in Aix to give the audience a taste of Russia's youngest singing talents.
Philippe Calvario made his debut as a theatre director. His debut didn't reveal any inexperience. He knew how to make the best use of all the possibilities the theatre offered. With an admirable dash and panache, he placed the chorus groups around, very often to hilarious effect. The cheap stage constructions and the candy-coloured costumes fitted perfectly with his slapstick approach. The sometimes sharp, sometimes burlesque music of Prokofiev invites an over-the-top approach.
Conductor Tugan Sokhiev, only 26 years old, made a favourable impression. In his conducting of the Prokofiev score, it was easy to hear that he was a pupil of Valery Gergiev. Sokhiev has the same hard-edged drive as his master, pushing for large dynamic contrasts. With the young and enthusiastic cast, this works wonderfully well.
Philippe Calvario made his debut as a theatre director. His debut didn't reveal any inexperience. He knew how to make the best use of all the possibilities the theatre offered. With an admirable dash and panache, he placed the chorus groups around, very often to hilarious effect. The cheap stage constructions and the candy-coloured costumes fitted perfectly with his slapstick approach. The sometimes sharp, sometimes burlesque music of Prokofiev invites an over-the-top approach.
Conductor Tugan Sokhiev, only 26 years old, made a favourable impression. In his conducting of the Prokofiev score, it was easy to hear that he was a pupil of Valery Gergiev. Sokhiev has the same hard-edged drive as his master, pushing for large dynamic contrasts. With the young and enthusiastic cast, this works wonderfully well.
Once upon a time was a former prima ballerina called Cinderella. After her mother's death she became a servant in the dance company of her stepmother and her two stepsisters. The invitation to a charity gala performance, which the celebrated solo dancer Frdric will attend, looking for an equally gifted new partner, is going to change her life?
Heinz Spoerli has the great idea to turn Cinderella into a poor and wretched corps de ballet girl in a provincial company, exploited and humiliated by the wicked ballet mistress who favors her own two daughters - with the Good Fairy as a haggard rehearsal pianist. The stepmother and both stepsisters are played in drag. The stepmother, jealous of seeing Cinderella capturing the attention of the dancing master as she excels at the barre more than her stepsisters, frequently stops Cinderella from dancing.
This is the plot of Heinz Spoerli's Zurich Ballet Cinderella production filmed by Andy Sommer as a musical from Hollywood, which turned out to be a big success at its premiere and must rank as one of the danciest stagings Prokofiev's popular ballet has ever received.
Heinz Spoerli has the great idea to turn Cinderella into a poor and wretched corps de ballet girl in a provincial company, exploited and humiliated by the wicked ballet mistress who favors her own two daughters - with the Good Fairy as a haggard rehearsal pianist. The stepmother and both stepsisters are played in drag. The stepmother, jealous of seeing Cinderella capturing the attention of the dancing master as she excels at the barre more than her stepsisters, frequently stops Cinderella from dancing.
This is the plot of Heinz Spoerli's Zurich Ballet Cinderella production filmed by Andy Sommer as a musical from Hollywood, which turned out to be a big success at its premiere and must rank as one of the danciest stagings Prokofiev's popular ballet has ever received.
A love to die for: Prokofiev dance with the Ural Opera Ballet in this contemporary version of Romeo and Juliet choreographed by Vyacheslav Samodurov.
Two lovers, united by fate but kept apart by an old family feud, who can only be together in death: Shakespeare's timeless tale, set to ballet music by Sergey Prokofiev in 1935, needs no introduction. However, this production from the Ural Opera Ballet in Ekaterinburg, which won the prestigious Golden Mask Prize as "Best Ballet" in 2017, adds interesting twists to this well-known frame, as choreographer Vyacheslav Samodurov sets his performance in a dance studio, during a rehearsal of the Romeo and Juliet ballet.
This way, the characters of the play are placed out of a specific country or era: the action could take place anytime and anywhere. It could even be happening in front of your window right now: it is not by chance that the dancers reminded the audience of today's 'boys and girls from the Uralmash district', as some viewers have noted in social media. The motive of struggle between the two clans disappears from the performance - it does not matter which families the street fighters belong to. The concept of repetition and inexorability of the theatrical ritual plays a central part: a tragedy is about to happen and...
Two lovers, united by fate but kept apart by an old family feud, who can only be together in death: Shakespeare's timeless tale, set to ballet music by Sergey Prokofiev in 1935, needs no introduction. However, this production from the Ural Opera Ballet in Ekaterinburg, which won the prestigious Golden Mask Prize as "Best Ballet" in 2017, adds interesting twists to this well-known frame, as choreographer Vyacheslav Samodurov sets his performance in a dance studio, during a rehearsal of the Romeo and Juliet ballet.
This way, the characters of the play are placed out of a specific country or era: the action could take place anytime and anywhere. It could even be happening in front of your window right now: it is not by chance that the dancers reminded the audience of today's 'boys and girls from the Uralmash district', as some viewers have noted in social media. The motive of struggle between the two clans disappears from the performance - it does not matter which families the street fighters belong to. The concept of repetition and inexorability of the theatrical ritual plays a central part: a tragedy is about to happen and...
Turandot from the Arena di Verona: Franco Zeffirelli's legendary production of a Puccini masterpiece.
For its 88th edition, the prestigious Arena di Verona Festival honored internationally acclaimed Italian stage director Franco Zeffirelli. Zeffirelli delivers an opulent staging of the fairy-tale story of the Chinese Princess Turandot, who will only marry a prince capable of solving her riddles.
The Russian soprano Maria Guleghina proved a brilliant Turandot. Salvatore Licitra's trump card is his imposingly radiant tenor voice of which he remains in sovereign control even in the role's much-feared highest register. The soprano Tamar Iveri is a beautiful and sensitive Li.
The Orchestra and Chorus of the Arena di Verona are conducted by Maestro Giuliano Carella.
For its 88th edition, the prestigious Arena di Verona Festival honored internationally acclaimed Italian stage director Franco Zeffirelli. Zeffirelli delivers an opulent staging of the fairy-tale story of the Chinese Princess Turandot, who will only marry a prince capable of solving her riddles.
The Russian soprano Maria Guleghina proved a brilliant Turandot. Salvatore Licitra's trump card is his imposingly radiant tenor voice of which he remains in sovereign control even in the role's much-feared highest register. The soprano Tamar Iveri is a beautiful and sensitive Li.
The Orchestra and Chorus of the Arena di Verona are conducted by Maestro Giuliano Carella.
Giacomo Puccini wrote what was supposed to be his last opera at a time where, riddled with disease and old age as he was, he felt like his own turmoil was reflected in the outside world: itself staggering, unsteady, overwhelmed and smashed by the chaos of European diplomacy. In spite of these obstacles, he persevered and worked until the very end of his life on this opera that he left unfinished but that proved to be a "way out" for him in many ways. Drawn from an ancient Persian epic from the 13th century, Turandot was indeed an excuse to escape into a new dramatic universe, one made of unexpected sounds and symbols. Here, in a world removed both geographically and chronologically from his own reality, he gave into the seductive powers of exoticism and eroticism, just as his own heroin Princess Turandot abandons herself to the mysteries of love and forgiveness.
After twenty years of absence, Puccini's Turandot was revived on the stage of the Teatro Real in a new production by American stage director Robert Wilson. One of the most important theatre and visual artist of our times, the director who gave life to Philip Glass's Einstein of the Beach and who reinvented Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande hadn't worked on a Puccini opera in twenty-five years, since his...
After twenty years of absence, Puccini's Turandot was revived on the stage of the Teatro Real in a new production by American stage director Robert Wilson. One of the most important theatre and visual artist of our times, the director who gave life to Philip Glass's Einstein of the Beach and who reinvented Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande hadn't worked on a Puccini opera in twenty-five years, since his...
Presenting Petipa's extravaganza, The Pharaoh's Daughter , in a stunning production by Pierre Lacotte . Recreating the spectacular sumptuousness of the original, the ballet tells the tale of a young Englishman who dreams he elopes with a Pharaoh's daughter. Despite a desert storm, a lion hunt and an attempted suicide, the couple finally wins the Pharaoh's blessing of their marriage. From its creation in 1862, Petipa's grandiose ballet was a sensational success; its stupendous costumes and striking scenery, its exotica, romanticism and drama appealing to audiences as much as the virtuoso choreography.
The Bolshoi Ballet and the two soloists Svetlana Zakharova and Sergey Filin are at their best in spite of the difficulty of Pierre Lacotte's choreography.
Special features includes a documentary about the creation of the ballet at the Bolshoi and an exclusive interview of Pierre Lacotte.
The Bolshoi Ballet and the two soloists Svetlana Zakharova and Sergey Filin are at their best in spite of the difficulty of Pierre Lacotte's choreography.
Special features includes a documentary about the creation of the ballet at the Bolshoi and an exclusive interview of Pierre Lacotte.
In the 13th century, the rich merchants of Novgorod mock the dreams of far-away journeys and of commercial conquests brought forth by Sadko, a musician and singer. But Volkhova, the Sea King's daughter, is enchanted by Sadko's voice, and promises to help him fulfill his dreams...
Sadko is a decisive work in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's aesthetic evolution. As in many operas, the composer draws his artistic material from Russian folk and fairytales, but also from old musical and poetic forms. The result is a prodigious opera, whose modernity - both dramatic and musical - erupts from the fabulous resources of traditional Russian epics, but also from the wonders of the marine universe, close to his former navigator self's heart.
A subtle analyst of the slavic soul, stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov comes back to the great stage of the Bolshoi Theater and devises a surprising production that perfectly underlines the ambiguities of this paradoxical opera, between past and present, fantasy and reality. He surrounds himself with magnificent Russian soprano Aida Garifullina, but also some of his favorite singers: Mikhail Petrenko, Ekaterina Semenchuk... In the pit and at the head of the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra, young Russian conductor Timur Zangiev breathes in this little-know...
Sadko is a decisive work in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's aesthetic evolution. As in many operas, the composer draws his artistic material from Russian folk and fairytales, but also from old musical and poetic forms. The result is a prodigious opera, whose modernity - both dramatic and musical - erupts from the fabulous resources of traditional Russian epics, but also from the wonders of the marine universe, close to his former navigator self's heart.
A subtle analyst of the slavic soul, stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov comes back to the great stage of the Bolshoi Theater and devises a surprising production that perfectly underlines the ambiguities of this paradoxical opera, between past and present, fantasy and reality. He surrounds himself with magnificent Russian soprano Aida Garifullina, but also some of his favorite singers: Mikhail Petrenko, Ekaterina Semenchuk... In the pit and at the head of the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra, young Russian conductor Timur Zangiev breathes in this little-know...
The argument is based on an historical case. In the suburbs of Moscow, reigned around 1571 Tsar Ivan IV, the Terrible . As Widowed, he is looking for a new wife for the third time. He chooses the young Marfa, she loves another man but bends to the will of the Tsar and renounces her love.
From this starting plot, the Russian director Dmitri Tcherniakov retains only the frame. A live competition is organized for a virtual monarch like in the reality show called Joe Millionaire where competitors attempt to marry a rich man. Here, the characters become the various players of the audiovisual industry bringing an acerbic critic of nowadays television.
Daniel Barenboim conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin. With Olga Peretyatko, Anita Rachvelishvili and Johannes Martin Kranzle.
From this starting plot, the Russian director Dmitri Tcherniakov retains only the frame. A live competition is organized for a virtual monarch like in the reality show called Joe Millionaire where competitors attempt to marry a rich man. Here, the characters become the various players of the audiovisual industry bringing an acerbic critic of nowadays television.
Daniel Barenboim conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin. With Olga Peretyatko, Anita Rachvelishvili and Johannes Martin Kranzle.
Gioacchino Rossini was only 23 years old when he wrote what was to become his most famous opera, composed after the scandalous eponymous play by Beaumarchais. Il Barbiere di Siviglia premiered in Rome in 1816: an innovative work, full of sophistication and finesse that first intrigued the Italian public, before winning over the entire peninsula and the rest of the world.
The opera displays with great clarity the essence of the Rossinian revolution: situation comedy, sharp criticism of social hypocrisy, together with a witty musical style, the glory of belcanto, and the contagious energy of assertive melodic lines. With the adventures of the factotum Figaro and his master Almaviva, looking to seduce the beautiful Rosina and steal her away from the old Bartolo; through the endless criss-crossing of this lover's chase, Rossini was to begin a new chapter in Italian opera, and forge a new brand that shaped the musical landscape of the 19th century.
For this reprisal of Hugo de Ana's famous staging at the Arena di Verona, Rossini's masterpiece is conducted by Maestro Daniel Oren. Italian baritone Leo Nucci, a true connoisseur of the part, is a boastful and virtuoso Figaro, while soprano Nino Machaidze and tenor Dmitry Korchak are perfect as the not-so-candid lovers around whom...
The opera displays with great clarity the essence of the Rossinian revolution: situation comedy, sharp criticism of social hypocrisy, together with a witty musical style, the glory of belcanto, and the contagious energy of assertive melodic lines. With the adventures of the factotum Figaro and his master Almaviva, looking to seduce the beautiful Rosina and steal her away from the old Bartolo; through the endless criss-crossing of this lover's chase, Rossini was to begin a new chapter in Italian opera, and forge a new brand that shaped the musical landscape of the 19th century.
For this reprisal of Hugo de Ana's famous staging at the Arena di Verona, Rossini's masterpiece is conducted by Maestro Daniel Oren. Italian baritone Leo Nucci, a true connoisseur of the part, is a boastful and virtuoso Figaro, while soprano Nino Machaidze and tenor Dmitry Korchak are perfect as the not-so-candid lovers around whom...
"A complete and organized madness": it would be difficult to find a more apt description than that of the writer Stendhal to describe this surrealist face, composed by Rossini in a matter of weeks (he claimed 18 days) and premiered in May 1813. In the madcap comedy L'Italiani in Algeri , dadaist sensibilities meet onomatopoetic Italian opera buffa in two acts brimming with frenetic rhythms-seeming to anticipate the films of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton-and yet, also, with great tenderness in the arias of Isabella and her fiance Lindoro, and with the patriotic fervor that animated Venice during the era.
The corsair Mustafa, bored with his wife Elvira, wishes to find a new companion. He intends to marry Elvira off to his Italian slave Lindoro (Maxim Mironov), himself preoccupied with his fiancee Isabella (Christianne Stotijn) in Italy. Unbeknownst to him, Isabella has already made plans to come find Lindoro in Algiers?EUR"and upon her arrival, she charms Mustafa and fools him into thinking he has won her affections. Can she keep up the ruse long enough to escape back to Italy with her beloved? medici.tv
The corsair Mustafa, bored with his wife Elvira, wishes to find a new companion. He intends to marry Elvira off to his Italian slave Lindoro (Maxim Mironov), himself preoccupied with his fiancee Isabella (Christianne Stotijn) in Italy. Unbeknownst to him, Isabella has already made plans to come find Lindoro in Algiers?EUR"and upon her arrival, she charms Mustafa and fools him into thinking he has won her affections. Can she keep up the ruse long enough to escape back to Italy with her beloved? medici.tv
Composed in 1931 by Dmitry Shostakovich, The Bolt to a book by Viktor Smirnov, is being revived for the first time in more than 70 years.
Shostakovich composed a caustically humourous ballet, blending popular tunes, serious music, circus music, waltzes, marches, tangos. He had imagined his ballet as a joyful lampoon of proletarian drama. His intention was to highlight the eventful and ambiguous relationship existing between proletarian experience and the representation given of it by the Soviet vanguard.
Alexei Ratmansky's choreography develops into a true marvel, opening with a ballet of giant robots and ending in a blood red delirious grand parade.
Shostakovich composed a caustically humourous ballet, blending popular tunes, serious music, circus music, waltzes, marches, tangos. He had imagined his ballet as a joyful lampoon of proletarian drama. His intention was to highlight the eventful and ambiguous relationship existing between proletarian experience and the representation given of it by the Soviet vanguard.
Alexei Ratmansky's choreography develops into a true marvel, opening with a ballet of giant robots and ending in a blood red delirious grand parade.
The starting point and destination of Heinz Spoerli's new ballet is the Magnificat by Johann Sebastian Bach .
From the beginning of the Allemande' movement of the Partita in A minor for solo flute, through the joy of Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 , this is the question of faith, which sparked Heinz Spoerli's interest in this piece.
Heinz Spoerli intensifies the emotions here, by inserting two moving arias from the cantatas Wo soll ich fliehen hin and Ich habe genug .
This is an important aspect for Heinz Spoerli in his discourse with the text of the Magnificat, in which his deep respect for all religions, or rather every faith, is not about the worship of a certain creator-figure, but more about the conditions and prerequisites of this for the expression of a profound devoutness, which also involves rejection, exclusion, uncertainty and separation.
Performed by Orchestra La Scintilla and conducted by Marc Minkowski in February 2012. In 1996 the group was founded as an independent ensemble by specialist musicians of the Zurich Opera Orchestra and soon obtained an excellent reputation. The spark that ignited the enthusiasm for new 'old music' gave its name to the ensemble: La Scintilla - The Spark. Performances with eminent authorities in the field such as Nikolaus...
From the beginning of the Allemande' movement of the Partita in A minor for solo flute, through the joy of Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 , this is the question of faith, which sparked Heinz Spoerli's interest in this piece.
Heinz Spoerli intensifies the emotions here, by inserting two moving arias from the cantatas Wo soll ich fliehen hin and Ich habe genug .
This is an important aspect for Heinz Spoerli in his discourse with the text of the Magnificat, in which his deep respect for all religions, or rather every faith, is not about the worship of a certain creator-figure, but more about the conditions and prerequisites of this for the expression of a profound devoutness, which also involves rejection, exclusion, uncertainty and separation.
Performed by Orchestra La Scintilla and conducted by Marc Minkowski in February 2012. In 1996 the group was founded as an independent ensemble by specialist musicians of the Zurich Opera Orchestra and soon obtained an excellent reputation. The spark that ignited the enthusiasm for new 'old music' gave its name to the ensemble: La Scintilla - The Spark. Performances with eminent authorities in the field such as Nikolaus...
A timeless tragedy told and retold through the centuries, staged by one of the most renowned visionaries of the opera stage to a score by an undisputed master of twentieth-century romanticism: all of this is on the bill in this production for the ages, performed in 2013 at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in the south of France. The legendary Patrice Chereau (who passed away just months later) honors Richard Strauss's masterpiece with feverish intensity, supported by a dream cast and an Orchestre de Paris in top form under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Soprano Evelyn Herlitzius gives life to the Elektra , the focus of Hugo von Hofmannsthal's libretto that drew its inspiration in the Sophocles play. The daughter of Agamemnon - murdered king of Mycenae, betrayed upon his return from the Trojan War by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus (the dazzling Waltraud Meier and Tom Randle)- Elektra is unafraid to court danger in search of justice, desperately trying to protect her younger brother Orestes (a brilliant Mikhail Petrenko), rightful heir to the throne, and seeking to avenge her father under the watchful eyes of his executioners.
Soprano Evelyn Herlitzius gives life to the Elektra , the focus of Hugo von Hofmannsthal's libretto that drew its inspiration in the Sophocles play. The daughter of Agamemnon - murdered king of Mycenae, betrayed upon his return from the Trojan War by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus (the dazzling Waltraud Meier and Tom Randle)- Elektra is unafraid to court danger in search of justice, desperately trying to protect her younger brother Orestes (a brilliant Mikhail Petrenko), rightful heir to the throne, and seeking to avenge her father under the watchful eyes of his executioners.
In 2013, four talented musicians fresh out of the Paris Conservatory (Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris) decided to join forces-and thus the Quatuor Arod was born. In less than a decade, the young ensemble has racked up a host of prestigious awards - including first prize for string quartets in the ARD International Music Competition in Munich in 2016 - and has performed everywhere from Wigmore Hall and the Berliner Philharmonie to the Concertgebouw and Carnegie Hall!
For this 2017 concert the ensemble lend their talents to Schubert's perennially moving Rosamunde , as well as the second quartet from Mendelssohn's Op. 44 . The program also includes the world premiere of Al 'Asr , The Afternoon Prayer by the young French composer, conductor, and violinist Benjamin Attahir - a figure who, like the four accomplished musicians of the Quatuor Arod, proves that classical music is also a young person's game...
For this 2017 concert the ensemble lend their talents to Schubert's perennially moving Rosamunde , as well as the second quartet from Mendelssohn's Op. 44 . The program also includes the world premiere of Al 'Asr , The Afternoon Prayer by the young French composer, conductor, and violinist Benjamin Attahir - a figure who, like the four accomplished musicians of the Quatuor Arod, proves that classical music is also a young person's game...
The Bolshoi troupe triumphs at Paris Opera's 2008 season opening with Eugene Onegin.
Three romantic heroes each with a solitary destiny: Tatiana, a Romanesque young woman seeking absolution; Onegin, a distant dandy hiding emptiness under affected haughtiness; and Lenski, abandoned by his literary idol. Between these three, barren affections presage the inexorable social ruin.
With a stage setting as sombre as it is effective ?EUR" a great dining table appears in the middle of a salon ?EUR" the director Dmitri Tcherniakov separates two different worlds and lends the drama a clarity rarely reached.
Three romantic heroes each with a solitary destiny: Tatiana, a Romanesque young woman seeking absolution; Onegin, a distant dandy hiding emptiness under affected haughtiness; and Lenski, abandoned by his literary idol. Between these three, barren affections presage the inexorable social ruin.
With a stage setting as sombre as it is effective ?EUR" a great dining table appears in the middle of a salon ?EUR" the director Dmitri Tcherniakov separates two different worlds and lends the drama a clarity rarely reached.
At long last, the Staatsballett Berlin is once more dancing The Nutcracker , one of the most popular ballets ever. Vasily Medvedev and Yuri Burlaka , two Russian choreographers and connoisseurs of the tradition, have developed a version for the Staatsballett Berlin which is based on the historic stage designs and choreography from the original of 1892. The stage designs and costumes have been modeled on the historic designs, part of the treasures of the Russian ballet archives.
The choreography, which was created for Lev Ivanov's inaugural performance, is largely based on his specifications - after all, it was he who gave this ballet his unmistakable style of dancing and whose art continues to be stylistically influential even to this day.
In combination with the brilliance of modern dance, this production - a loving reconstruction designed as a great ballet feerie - reveals all of its nostalgic charm and promises the wonderful anticipation of Christmas: it's as if Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky had composed the falling of snowflakes or the fragrance of Christmas spices - a piece of musical genius.
The choreography, which was created for Lev Ivanov's inaugural performance, is largely based on his specifications - after all, it was he who gave this ballet his unmistakable style of dancing and whose art continues to be stylistically influential even to this day.
In combination with the brilliance of modern dance, this production - a loving reconstruction designed as a great ballet feerie - reveals all of its nostalgic charm and promises the wonderful anticipation of Christmas: it's as if Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky had composed the falling of snowflakes or the fragrance of Christmas spices - a piece of musical genius.
On Christmas Eve, a young girl has a dream... Emotional awakening, physical transformation, childhood that slowly merges into adulthood... behind what seems to be a tale for children slowly emerges a danced initiatory journey. And while children revel in Drosselmeyer's magic tricks and enjoy a good scare with the apparition of the Mouse King, the adults notice all the finesse that pervades this narrative and admire the virtuosity of the choreography.
A first class company, the Ballet Company of the National Opera of Ukraine has toured all around the world : from the United States to Europe and Asia. Thanks to its rich classical heritage, the Company has managed to win the hearts of its audience thanks to its amazing technique and artistic maestria, and as in every good dance company, the whole is equal to the sum of its parts. The Company has also, over the years, establised itself as a unique talent pool, that has nurtured first class dancers such as Iana Salenko (Staatsballet Berlin), Alina Cojocaru (Royal Ballet), Maxim Beloserkovsky and Irina Dvorovenko (American Ballet Theater); and the young gifted dancers that make the Ballet's reputation ensure the preservation of the classical heritage of this historical and world-renowned company.
A first class company, the Ballet Company of the National Opera of Ukraine has toured all around the world : from the United States to Europe and Asia. Thanks to its rich classical heritage, the Company has managed to win the hearts of its audience thanks to its amazing technique and artistic maestria, and as in every good dance company, the whole is equal to the sum of its parts. The Company has also, over the years, establised itself as a unique talent pool, that has nurtured first class dancers such as Iana Salenko (Staatsballet Berlin), Alina Cojocaru (Royal Ballet), Maxim Beloserkovsky and Irina Dvorovenko (American Ballet Theater); and the young gifted dancers that make the Ballet's reputation ensure the preservation of the classical heritage of this historical and world-renowned company.
Sleeping Beauty , the mythical Tchaikovsky's ballet in a new production of the Bolshoi Ballet. Set for the reopening of the world famous historical stage completely renovated while celebrating David Hallberg's Bolshoi debut.
The choreographer, Yuri Grigorovich presents a new version of one of his most famous choreography for a breath taking experience in splendid sets designed by Ezio Frigerio and more than 400 new costumes designed by Franca Squarciapino .
The american superstar dancer David Hallberg is Prince Desire while Principal Dancer Svetlana Zakharova, well known by Parisian audience thanks to her many performances at the Palais Garnier is Princess Aurora. They are joined by a great cast such as Maria Allash as Lilac Fairy, Artem Ovcharenko as Bluebird and Nina Kaptsova as Princess Florine.
The choreographer, Yuri Grigorovich presents a new version of one of his most famous choreography for a breath taking experience in splendid sets designed by Ezio Frigerio and more than 400 new costumes designed by Franca Squarciapino .
The american superstar dancer David Hallberg is Prince Desire while Principal Dancer Svetlana Zakharova, well known by Parisian audience thanks to her many performances at the Palais Garnier is Princess Aurora. They are joined by a great cast such as Maria Allash as Lilac Fairy, Artem Ovcharenko as Bluebird and Nina Kaptsova as Princess Florine.
A Swan Lake for our times.
A magical version of Tchaikovsky's masterpiece by the Zurich Ballet and choreographer Heinz Spoerli.
Swan Lake for our times capable of transporting the audience to another world. The magic in the story suddenly takes hold of the viewer. Ballet is not simply a way of telling the story. Rather than gestures asking to be deciphered, the choreographer created large-scale, visionary movements closer to an artistic language of symbols and plays on the whole spectrum of human emotions. It always maintains a relationship of creative tension with its surroundings, especially the music, the poetry of the set, the use of light and colour, the texture of the costumes.
A key element of this artistic responsibility is to tell the story precisely but openly, without pinning it down, especially the ending - an ending which is in a many-facetted sense a "deliverance." Does this mean that the lovers are saved? Is the spell's power broken? Are there other kinds of salvation and deliverance? Perhaps even by death and transfiguration?
A magical version of Tchaikovsky's masterpiece by the Zurich Ballet and choreographer Heinz Spoerli.
Swan Lake for our times capable of transporting the audience to another world. The magic in the story suddenly takes hold of the viewer. Ballet is not simply a way of telling the story. Rather than gestures asking to be deciphered, the choreographer created large-scale, visionary movements closer to an artistic language of symbols and plays on the whole spectrum of human emotions. It always maintains a relationship of creative tension with its surroundings, especially the music, the poetry of the set, the use of light and colour, the texture of the costumes.
A key element of this artistic responsibility is to tell the story precisely but openly, without pinning it down, especially the ending - an ending which is in a many-facetted sense a "deliverance." Does this mean that the lovers are saved? Is the spell's power broken? Are there other kinds of salvation and deliverance? Perhaps even by death and transfiguration?
The impossible love between a human prince and a swan princess, tragic fates, the constant opposition between imagination and reality: these are the core elements of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake . Profoundly classical, Valery Kovtun's version for the Ballet of the National Opera of Ukraine is an homage to Tchaikovsky's talent, but also to Marius Petipa's timeless heritage. As in the original libretto, this Swan Lake ends with the two main character's death, drowned into the lake's tears. But evil is overpowered by love, and in the final apotheosis, Odette and Siegfried are forever united in a world of perfect harmony.
A first class company, the Ballet Company of the National Opera of Ukraine has toured all around the world : from the United States to Europe and Asia. Thanks to its rich classical heritage, the Company has managed to win the hearts of its audience thanks to its amazing technique and artistic maestria, and as in every good dance company, the whole is equal to the sum of its parts. The Company has also, over the years, establised itself as a unique talent pool, that has nurtured first class dancers such as Iana Salenko (Staatsballet Berlin), Alina Cojocaru (Royal Ballet), Maxim Beloserkovsky and Irina Dvorovenko (American Ballet Theater); and the young gifted dancers...
A first class company, the Ballet Company of the National Opera of Ukraine has toured all around the world : from the United States to Europe and Asia. Thanks to its rich classical heritage, the Company has managed to win the hearts of its audience thanks to its amazing technique and artistic maestria, and as in every good dance company, the whole is equal to the sum of its parts. The Company has also, over the years, establised itself as a unique talent pool, that has nurtured first class dancers such as Iana Salenko (Staatsballet Berlin), Alina Cojocaru (Royal Ballet), Maxim Beloserkovsky and Irina Dvorovenko (American Ballet Theater); and the young gifted dancers...
Celebrating the 85th birthday of the birth of the great Russian conductor Evgeny Svetlanov (1928-2002). This event was filmed in the magnificent room of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. Evgueny Svetlanov has spent 35 years leading the Symphony orchestra of the Russian Federation, today nicknamed The Svetlanov .
Conducted by Vladimir Jurowski, its new Director, the concert gathers some of the most acclaimed artists: Yefim Bronfman, Tatiana Pavlovskaya, Vsevolod Grivnov, Serguey Leiferkus.
Conducted by Vladimir Jurowski, its new Director, the concert gathers some of the most acclaimed artists: Yefim Bronfman, Tatiana Pavlovskaya, Vsevolod Grivnov, Serguey Leiferkus.
To celebrate the bicentennial of Giuseppe Verdi's birth, La Fura dels Baus opens the "Centanario Festival 2013" of the Arena di Verona. Carlus Padrissa and Alex Olle sign a brillant new version of Aida .
Aida is the most popular opera of Verona Festival, the only one performed every year, 17000 spectators enjoy the show every evening. This new production is designed by La Fura dels Baus. They transform the arena into a huge desert, creating mechanical animals and manufacture a solar power plant. They use their experience in leading large-scale shows and opera to create the Aida of the 21st century splendidly conducted by a young talented conductor, Omer Meir Wellber .
The Egyptians have captured and enslaved Aida, an Ethiopian princess. An Egyptian military commander, Radames, struggles to choose between his love for her and his loyalty to the Pharaoh. To complicate the story further, the Pharaoh's daughter Amneris is in love with Radames, although he does not return her feelings.
Aida is the most popular opera of Verona Festival, the only one performed every year, 17000 spectators enjoy the show every evening. This new production is designed by La Fura dels Baus. They transform the arena into a huge desert, creating mechanical animals and manufacture a solar power plant. They use their experience in leading large-scale shows and opera to create the Aida of the 21st century splendidly conducted by a young talented conductor, Omer Meir Wellber .
The Egyptians have captured and enslaved Aida, an Ethiopian princess. An Egyptian military commander, Radames, struggles to choose between his love for her and his loyalty to the Pharaoh. To complicate the story further, the Pharaoh's daughter Amneris is in love with Radames, although he does not return her feelings.
Nina Stemme marks her theatrical role debut as Aida with an astounding performance in a new staging by Nicolas Joel at the Zurich Opera - sharing the stage with a star-packed cast including Salvatore Licitra, Luiciana d'intino and Juan Pons.
Bonus:
- The Story of Aida - a film by Louis Wallencan
- Interview with Andy Sommer
Bonus:
- The Story of Aida - a film by Louis Wallencan
- Interview with Andy Sommer
Coproduced with Siberia's Novosibirsk Opera, this new Macbeth uses cutting-edge multimedia technology to give the viewer a fresh perspective on the work. Google Earth satellite images plunge us into the heart of the action: a gloomy square surrounded by soulless buildings, and the interior of an aristocratic residence. Witches are no more a part of Tcherniakov's Macbeth that the duel was of Onegin , but once again the atmosphere is one of brooding claustrophobia.
Tcherniakov has chosen a great cast, beginning with the marvellous Lithuanian soprano Violeta Urmana as Lady Macbeth. Greek baritone Dimitris Tiliakos is a powerful presence as Macbeth, while the Italians Ferruccio Furlanetto (bass) and Stefano Secco (tenor) are sumptuous as, respectively, Banquo and Macduff.
In this, his second production at the Paris Opera, Teodor Currentzis, music director of the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre conducts with verve and a splendid theatrical sense.
Tcherniakov has chosen a great cast, beginning with the marvellous Lithuanian soprano Violeta Urmana as Lady Macbeth. Greek baritone Dimitris Tiliakos is a powerful presence as Macbeth, while the Italians Ferruccio Furlanetto (bass) and Stefano Secco (tenor) are sumptuous as, respectively, Banquo and Macduff.
In this, his second production at the Paris Opera, Teodor Currentzis, music director of the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre conducts with verve and a splendid theatrical sense.
A new production of Verdi's Nabucco at the Arena di Verona, and probably the most exciting lyrical event of the summer 2017.
Verdi's third opera - but first great popular success - was created at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan in 1842, in the epicentre of the Risorgimento and the capital of Italian nationalism, at a time where the supporters of Italian independance from Austrian occupation were starting to make their voices heard. The 'Chorus of the Hebrew slaves', pivotal point in the third act where the Jews, exiled from Babylon by Nabuchodonosor, mourn their country, 'so beautiful and lost', immediately resonated with the Italian nationalists and has ever since been a symbol of Italian national identity.
Boldly transposing the action out of biblical times and into Italian Risorgimento, French director Arnaud Bernard goes as far as to center the entire opera during the popular uprisings of 1848 and in the insides of the Milanese opera house. A clever way to emphasize on the legends that have been building around Verdi's operas and the role they played in the political process of uniting the Italian peninsula, and in the construction of an authentic italianita.
Soprano Susanna Branchini literally steals the stage as Nabuchodonosor's daughter Abigaille (for whom Verdi...
Verdi's third opera - but first great popular success - was created at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan in 1842, in the epicentre of the Risorgimento and the capital of Italian nationalism, at a time where the supporters of Italian independance from Austrian occupation were starting to make their voices heard. The 'Chorus of the Hebrew slaves', pivotal point in the third act where the Jews, exiled from Babylon by Nabuchodonosor, mourn their country, 'so beautiful and lost', immediately resonated with the Italian nationalists and has ever since been a symbol of Italian national identity.
Boldly transposing the action out of biblical times and into Italian Risorgimento, French director Arnaud Bernard goes as far as to center the entire opera during the popular uprisings of 1848 and in the insides of the Milanese opera house. A clever way to emphasize on the legends that have been building around Verdi's operas and the role they played in the political process of uniting the Italian peninsula, and in the construction of an authentic italianita.
Soprano Susanna Branchini literally steals the stage as Nabuchodonosor's daughter Abigaille (for whom Verdi...
We all identify Traviata with the corrupt, led-astray heroine of Verdi's opera; with those women whose fatal sensuality incriminated families, threatening the social order, and compromising a morality where desire, with its subversive powers, was to be eliminated.
However, every myth benefits from a fresh perspective. And from the bedside of a repentant Madeleine, the guilty conscience of the XIXth century's hypocritical honesty, Peter Mussbach sees this myth differently. He sees it from a closer perspective. Perhaps his very contemporary vision of this past era can shed some
light on our vision of the modern woman.
The only performance from the eventful 2003 Festival d'Aix, this Traviata is carried all the way through by a radiant Mireille Delunsch, who, as always, pushes the limits of her art. Appearing in a wedding dress, evoking the sacrificed icon reminiscent of both Marylin and Lady Di, trapped by tragedy, Mireille Delunsch is Violetta.
Filmed by Don Kent, a master in the domain, Peter Mussbach's brilliant production is one long flashback, which leaves the spectator breathless. A truly remarkable director of actors, Mussbach focuses on the psychology of the opera's characters, and knows how to get the best out of his singers. For him, La Traviata is "written...
However, every myth benefits from a fresh perspective. And from the bedside of a repentant Madeleine, the guilty conscience of the XIXth century's hypocritical honesty, Peter Mussbach sees this myth differently. He sees it from a closer perspective. Perhaps his very contemporary vision of this past era can shed some
light on our vision of the modern woman.
The only performance from the eventful 2003 Festival d'Aix, this Traviata is carried all the way through by a radiant Mireille Delunsch, who, as always, pushes the limits of her art. Appearing in a wedding dress, evoking the sacrificed icon reminiscent of both Marylin and Lady Di, trapped by tragedy, Mireille Delunsch is Violetta.
Filmed by Don Kent, a master in the domain, Peter Mussbach's brilliant production is one long flashback, which leaves the spectator breathless. A truly remarkable director of actors, Mussbach focuses on the psychology of the opera's characters, and knows how to get the best out of his singers. For him, La Traviata is "written...
After the success of Rigoletto, Verdi called on librettist Salvadore Cammarano in 1851 for his new opera Il Trovatore , based on the eponymous play by Spanish playwright Antonio Garcia Gutierrez. Verdi takes us to 15th century northern Spain to witness the tragic destiny of those under the control of the gypsy Azucena, who seeks to avenge the death of his mother. The first percussion notes are solemn, setting the tone for Verdi's masterpiece, whose main themes include abandonment, passion, power, love for one's parents and vengeance. The music is sometimes tender and sensuous, with exceptional energy and force, revealing daring and mastery in its musical and vocal language.
This production marked the debut of Russian stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov at La Monnaie and the first Verdi interpretation by Marc Minkowski.
This production marked the debut of Russian stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov at La Monnaie and the first Verdi interpretation by Marc Minkowski.
In this biographical and musical road movie by Andy Sommer, Antoine Wagner, a young photographer living in New York, heads to Switzerland on the trail of his great-great-greand father, the renowned composer Richard Wagner .
Wagner spent several years in Switzerland - first as a political exile then as an artist who had become famous. Antoine Wagner returns to the sites where his ancestor had lived, meeting historians, musicologists, musicians and enlightened amateurs. He also sets off on a mountaineering expedition in contact with a grandiose, violent Nature, exploring those landscapes that Wagner so admired and which were a profound source of inspiration for him.
Wagner spent several years in Switzerland - first as a political exile then as an artist who had become famous. Antoine Wagner returns to the sites where his ancestor had lived, meeting historians, musicologists, musicians and enlightened amateurs. He also sets off on a mountaineering expedition in contact with a grandiose, violent Nature, exploring those landscapes that Wagner so admired and which were a profound source of inspiration for him.
A Die Walkure to be remembered: Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker at the Aix-en-Provence Festival!
After the success of Das Rheingold , Stephane Braunschweig's staging of the second part of the tetralogy Die Walkure was a triumph in Aix's brand new Grand Theatre de Provence.
With a remarkable international cast - Sir Willard White, Robert Gambill, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Eva Johansson and Mikhail Petrenko - accompanied by the Berliner Philharmoniker, Simon Rattle brought almost unparalleled breadth to the work.
In opting for a movingly human approach to the drama unfolding on stage, director Stephane Braunschweig obtained superb performances from an extraordinary group of singers.
After the success of Das Rheingold , Stephane Braunschweig's staging of the second part of the tetralogy Die Walkure was a triumph in Aix's brand new Grand Theatre de Provence.
With a remarkable international cast - Sir Willard White, Robert Gambill, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Eva Johansson and Mikhail Petrenko - accompanied by the Berliner Philharmoniker, Simon Rattle brought almost unparalleled breadth to the work.
In opting for a movingly human approach to the drama unfolding on stage, director Stephane Braunschweig obtained superb performances from an extraordinary group of singers.
This production by Nikolaus Habjan is simple and interesting, and narrates the plot as a comedy, even if it isn't a buffo opera. The superb direction of both soloists and chorus is particularly noteworthy' and he manages to instill some liveliness in the long dialogues. Seen and Heard International
Oberon , Konig der Elfen is certainly less well known than Weber's classic Der Freischutz , but it's an enchanting piece. It's less ambitious than Mozart in sentiment and execution and certainly doesn't have the same musical genius or memorable pieces, but it has considerable character of its own, particularly when a good production like this shows its merits. OperaJournal
Oberon , Konig der Elfen is certainly less well known than Weber's classic Der Freischutz , but it's an enchanting piece. It's less ambitious than Mozart in sentiment and execution and certainly doesn't have the same musical genius or memorable pieces, but it has considerable character of its own, particularly when a good production like this shows its merits. OperaJournal
A hard-hitting new production of Kurt Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by the Catalan collective La Fura dels Baus at the Teatro Real de Madrid.
Composed in the 1930s by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, this is a mordant satire on capitalism and the inexorable industrialisation of a society in which the ultimate crime is not having money. In twenty scenes the authors tell the story of a city lost in the middle of a desert and run by three thugs; in Mahagonny food, sex, gambling and violence rule supreme.
The production by Alex Olle and Carlus Padrissa, both of La Fura dels Baus, combines enormous inventiveness, joy and energy with awe-inspiring ferocity.
Perfect casting brings together a group of singers - Measha Brueggergosman, Michael Konig, Jane Henschel and Willard White - who are also marvellous actors.
The Teatro Real Orchestra and Chorus are directed by young Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado, who actually began his career at the Teatro Real. In November 2010, he received the El Ojo Critico prize, awarded annually to Spain's most outstanding artists in the classical music field.
Composed in the 1930s by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, this is a mordant satire on capitalism and the inexorable industrialisation of a society in which the ultimate crime is not having money. In twenty scenes the authors tell the story of a city lost in the middle of a desert and run by three thugs; in Mahagonny food, sex, gambling and violence rule supreme.
The production by Alex Olle and Carlus Padrissa, both of La Fura dels Baus, combines enormous inventiveness, joy and energy with awe-inspiring ferocity.
Perfect casting brings together a group of singers - Measha Brueggergosman, Michael Konig, Jane Henschel and Willard White - who are also marvellous actors.
The Teatro Real Orchestra and Chorus are directed by young Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado, who actually began his career at the Teatro Real. In November 2010, he received the El Ojo Critico prize, awarded annually to Spain's most outstanding artists in the classical music field.
A tenement on the East Side of Manhattan is our window into a multitude of precarious lives pushed to the limits. Romance, disputes, gossip mongering, betrayals, and constant tension mark the routines of this community of neighbors in the socially conscious Street Scene , the first opera Kurt Weill composed in the United States after escaping Nazi persecution. The brilliance of the music complements a sparkling libretto by Elmer Rice - an adaptation of his Pulitzer-winning play of the same name - and lyrics by legendary Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes.
Weill sought to write an "American opera" drawing on Broadway musicals, blues, and jazz, all with an eye toward the European operatic tradition-recitatives, arias, ensemble - in which he had been immersed before crossing the Atlantic. The final product lies somewhere between Weill's Threepenny Opera (a collaboration with Brecht and the origin of the famous Mack the Knife ) and Bernstein's West Side Story : a masterful depiction of everyday life in a big city, brutally realistic but with a refined poetic sensibility.
Under Tim Murray's precise baton, this new production by John Fulljames, featuring a top-notch vocal cast, vividly renders the vitality and energy of the New York streets that inspired Weill's...
Weill sought to write an "American opera" drawing on Broadway musicals, blues, and jazz, all with an eye toward the European operatic tradition-recitatives, arias, ensemble - in which he had been immersed before crossing the Atlantic. The final product lies somewhere between Weill's Threepenny Opera (a collaboration with Brecht and the origin of the famous Mack the Knife ) and Bernstein's West Side Story : a masterful depiction of everyday life in a big city, brutally realistic but with a refined poetic sensibility.
Under Tim Murray's precise baton, this new production by John Fulljames, featuring a top-notch vocal cast, vividly renders the vitality and energy of the New York streets that inspired Weill's...