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- In 1960s, a British playwright attempts to reconstruct the life of real life 17th century English composer Henry Purcell even though little is known about him. Purcell's life is reenacted and his music performed.
- Judith arrives at Bluebeard's dark castle hoping her love can convince him to reveal the secrets behind the locked interior doors.
- The American Ballet Theatre, performing at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York City, June 1983, led by Mikhail Baryshnikov, present Cervantes' story about the adventures of the Knight of Rueful Countenance.
- The darker side of the composer is explored when he stays in the hospital for syphilis.
- Although the set design and most of the costumes are remarkably like the later Royal Ballet Peter Wright productions, (2001 and 2009) many tiny details are different. While the production design is quite elaborate, much of the action is staged in a simpler manner than in Wright's later versions; for instance, the grandfather in the wheelchair has even less to do than in the later version, the angel that appears to Clara is on the staircase instead of next to the Christmas tree, and no St. Nicholas appears at the Christmas Party to distribute candies. Wright himself has stated that of all his "Nutcracker" productions, this one is the closest to the original. The story is the same as in the standard version of the ballet, with nothing really added to it, except that, as in many Russian versions and the Baryshnikov one, Clara and the Nutcracker Prince (Hans-Peter) are played by adults, not children. Clara's costume once she sneaks downstairs after the Christmas party is completely different from the one worn by the later Claras - she does not seem to be wearing a nightgown, but a full-fledged dress. In Act II, Clara and Hans-Peter (Drosselmeyer's nephew, who was formerly the Nutcracker) do not take part in the dances at the Sugar Plum Fairy's kingdom, as they do in the later Royal Ballet versions. The ending is almost completely different from the later Royal Ballet versions. Although we see Drosselmeyer and Hans-Peter reunited in the workshop (indicating that the fantasy events were real), there is no indication that Clara and Hans-Peter meet up again in the real world, or that they will be reunited as a couple, as in the later Peter Wright Royal Ballet versions. Drosselmeyer is noticeably grimmer in this production than in the later Royal Ballet versions. He never once smiles, and never seems to be really enjoying himself.
- Director Werner Herzog joins forces with the great Italian conductor Riccardo Chailly to effect a masterful rendition of this rarely performed opera involving spectacular scenes of alternating light and darkness, pageantry and intimacy.
- This documentary begins with Ken Russell posing the question: "What is a true English folk song, if there is such a thing?" After receiving an indifferent response from his dog, Ken journeys around the countryside of England searching for an answer. He bumps into and interviews such famous artists as; Donovan, Fairport Convention, Osibisa, Eliza Carthy, So What, Edward II and The Albion Band among others.
- While waiting for Stella to conclude her performance in the opera house next door, Hoffman recounts his 3 tragic loves: Olympia the mechanical doll, Giulietta the courtesan, and Antonia the young consumptive.
- This classic Kirov production of Swan Lake by Oleg Vinogradov, filmed at the Kirov Theatre in Leningrad in December 1990, includes the familiar happy ending in the final act, where Siegfried fights and ultimately defeats the evil magician, von Rothbart, and at dawn is reunited with Odette. Yulia Makhalina stars as Odette / Odile and Igor Zelensky, now an international star, is Prince Siegfried.
- An operatic adaptation of the 1963 Caldecott-winning classic book.
- Based on a pair of once-banned plays by the fin de siècle satirist Frank Wedekind, Alban Berg's operatic swan song charts the rise and fall of a femme fatale, a serial seductress, from life as a society hostess to prostitution and eventual death at the hands of Jack the Ripper.
- Mistaken identity, unrequited love, and the supernatural are combined in Shakespeare's classic set in the woods of Greece on a moonlit night.
- The Rosenkavalier delivers the rose to the Baron's intended, but she and the cavalier fall in love. When she meets the Baron, she enlists the cavalier's help to break the betrothal. The Princess helps the young lovers.
- Friends and colleagues talk about the life and career of the enigmatic and iconic British singer Dusty Springfield.
- This biography of Sviatoslav Richter, the great Russian pianist who dedicated his life to music and had little regard for fame in the West, shines a light on his formative years and places him against the setting of a chaotic USSR culture.
- The libretto (plot) is the substance of Shakespeare's comedy, The Merry Wives of Windsor. A trio of beautiful, and now revengeful ladies see Sir John Falstaff for what he is: an old, conceited, drunken fool. The women discover (literally comparing notes) very unsavory aspects of Falstaff's bloated personality. They (and others) set out to make a fool of this conceited womanizing hedonist, who has more than those three enemies in town.
- The process of writing the verses for Ermione was entrusted to the prolific librettist Andrea Leone Tottola, known also for the work he did with Donizetti, Bellini, Pacini and Mercadante. The subject was taken from Jean-Baptiste Racine's tragedy Andromaque (1667), in turn based on Euripides' masterpiece. Ermione was first performed at the San Carlo Theatre in Naples on 27th March 1819 with a quality cast. When first staged, Ermione was not very successful because probably Rossini moved too far away from the taste of Italian public at the time. Ermione was completely forgotten until 1977 when it was revived in concert form in Siena. In Ermione Rossini steps away from some of the stylistic features of belcanto and lays the foundations for some of the masterpieces of his maturity: there is clearly more continuity between the various closed pieces, the function of the chorus is strengthened, three-part arias are replaced by two-part ones, and we can find a more vigorous vocal expression as well as a generous use of declaimed recitative. Ermione is unquestionably the great protagonist of this opera, especially in the second act where she truly towers over the other characters. Rossini entrusts her with a magnificent scene in four sections punctuated by recitative passages, in the course of which she can express the most highly-contrasting emotions, from fierce anger to moving love. This immense collection of novelties and experimental touches makes Ermione an extremely interesting opera; we may state the Rossini's Ermione is one of the most finely drawn characters in all nineteenth-century opera.
- A Dutch captain is cursed to sail until he finds a woman faithful unto death.
- Il signor Bruschino is the last of the five one-act operas - farsa giocosa - in which the young Rossini first demonstrated his operatic genius. Among the 'peculiarities', which caused a sensation at its premiere 1813, was the daring experiment in search of new tonal effects in the overture, during which the second violins are required to tap their bows on their music stands. The opera is a mixture of saucy elegance, sizzling wittiness, cheeky orchestration and also some touching lyricism. It was realised to perfection in the small, jewel-like Rococo Theatre in Schwetzingen Palace, which was built in 1752. The stage is small and the beautifully elegant and this shining production by Michael Hampe, recorded in May 1989, provides one and a half hours of the entertaining story about "the son won in a game" as it is subtitled. The staging transfers to the screen perfectly and the cast of principals, led by Alessandro Corbelli, Alberto Rinaldi and Amelia Felle provide musical excellence together with the flexible Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra under Gianluigi Gelmetti.
- Tom Rakewell is informed one day by the mysterious messenger Nick Shadow that he has inherited a large fortune. He leaves his sweetheart Anne and follows Nick to London, where he allows himself to be swept up in a vortex of luxury and pleasure. But when the time is right, the devil comes to collect his debt.
- This is a TV adaptation of a 1993 opera entitled "Rosa," with a libretto by Greenaway and score by Louis Andriessen. "Rosa" is the first in a projected series of 10 operas, each dealing with the death of a famous composer - some real (Anton Webern, Jean-Baptiste Lully, John Lennon), others fictional. "Rosa" falls into the latter category; it tells the story of Juan Manuel de Rosa, a Brazilian who went to study music in America but spent most of his time in the cinema instead, becoming particularly entranced by Westerns. Now 32 years old and residing in an abandoned Uraguayan slaughterhouse, Rosa has become one of Hollywood's foremost composers, specializing in (what else?) Westerns. He also has a beautiful 19-year-old fiancee, Esmeralda, but he pays her little heed, instead lavishing his attentions on a black mare named Bola. One day, a group of men attired as cowboys arrive at the abattoir and kill both Rosa and Bola; an investigation is conducted, with particular suspicion!
- It is Verdi's opera "Don Carlo".
- A portrait of violinist David Oïstrakh, from his birth in Odessa in 1908 until his in 1974, and his career under Stalin's left wing terrorist regime. Featuring interviews with his peers Menuhin, Rostropovich and Rojdesvensky, this biography asks the question: was Oïstrakh really 'an artist of the people' as the communists called him?
- Live stage performance of the opera 'Carmen', with minute set decors, realistic acting, intense and rich voices.
- Rossini's first staged opera already contains all the elements that would take the music world by storm in Il barbiere di Siviglia, L'italiana in Algeri and La Cenerentola in the years to come: melodic inventiveness, ingenious connections between sung lines and orchestral accompaniment in the exuberant finale, musical humour and ensembles using breathtakingly fast parlando singing. This sparkling production continues the Rossini one-act opera series emerging from the Schwetzingen Festival with excellent direction, acting and stagecraft. Director Michael Hampe created a perfect realization of the opera in the small, jewel-like Rococo Theatre of Schwetzingen Palace in May 1989. The staging is perfectly suited to the screen and the cast of principals, led by John Del Carlo; Janice Hall and David Kuebler provide musical excellence together with the flexible Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. The lively performance is led by Gianluigi Gelmetti, who was awarded the Rossini d'Oro Prize in 1999.