La Vie parisienne (2022)

Aida

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The Fiery Angel

Sergey Prokofiev's operatic tragedy The Fiery Angel was never performed in the composers lifetime the musics brittle energy, drama and eloquent lyrical tenderness would re-emerge in his Third Symphony. The narrative focuses relentlessly on Renata, who is haunted by an angel who turns out to be the devil. Director Emma Dante describes the opera as an explosive mix of fantastical realism and endless confusion of nightmares, madness, sexual impulses and cultural clashes, and this Teatro dellOpera di Roma production was acclaimed as a presentation of Prokofievs masterpiece which sparkles in all its grotesque glory (operawire.com)

Verdi: Attila

First staged at the Teatro La Fenice in 1846, Verdi’s ninth opera, Attila, returns to the stage of La Scala on December 7th. Following the inauguration of the 2015-2016 Season with Giovanna d’Arco and in anticipation of Macbeth, with Attila Musical Director Riccardo Chailly continues his study of Verdi’s early works, renewing a successful collaboration with creative director Davide Livermore that began with his acclaimed production of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale for La Scala. In this complex opera Verdi experiments with fresh perspectives, featuring spectacular historical settings, introspective angles and moral uncertainties. Attila demands of its performers not only passion and confidence, but also the ability to find subtle accents and psychological nuances.

Benjamin: Lessons in Love and Violence

Opera based on the story of Edward II and Piers Gaveston. Music by George Benjamin, libretto by Martin Crimp. BBC broadcast of the 2018 premiere at the Royal Opera House, the composer conducting, prefaced by commentary and interviews.

Mefistofele

The season kicks off with Boitos resplendent retelling of Goethes Faust, a monumental work of 'choral grandeur and melodic richness' (The New York Times) in one of the most impressive productions ever seen at the War Memorial Opera House. The cast includes Ramón Vargas, a tenor 'in ravishing voice' (Financial Times), as the philosopher who sells his soul to the Devil; the 'luminous, compelling' Patricia Racette (Washington Post) as the woman he desires; and, in the vividly menacing title role, the 'seductively malevolent' bass-baritone Ildar Abdrazakov, a 'fullbodied bass-baritone' renowned for his 'wonderfully evil portrayals' (The New York Times).

Hadrian

Rufus Wainwright's original opera finds Emperor Hadrian devastated after his lover Antinous drowns in the Nile River. While matters of state encroach on his grief, and advisors clamour for war against a radical new threat to the Empire, Hadrian slips out of time to re-encounter the vision and reality of Antinous—and learn the truth about what happened on the Nile.

Parsifal: The Search for the Grail

Richard Wagner's operatic retelling of the story of the search for the Holy Grail receives a lavish production in this video, which records performances held in Bayreuth, St. Petersburg, and Ravello, Italy. Internationally renowned tenor Placido Domingo leads the distinguished cast; Tony Palmer directs.

Die Meistersinger Von Nürnberg

James Morris leads an all-star cast including Karita Mattila, Ben Heppner, Thomas Allen and René Pape, in this production of Wagner's comic opera, recorded live at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 2001. James Levine conducts.

MacBeth

Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.

Puccini: La Boheme

"La Bohème" is one of Giacomo Puccini's most popular and timeless works and the second-most performed opera at New York's Metropolitan Opera. This production, directed by the legendary Franco Zeffirelli, features José Carreras, Teresa Stratas, Renata Scotto and Richard Stilwell. The opera is replete with extraordinary visual beauty as it presents the tragic story of young bohemians struggling to make it in the world.

Elixir of Love

The incomparable Luciano Pavarotti at his most eloquent brings Donizetti’s Nemorino to live as only he can, combining vocal fireworks, personal charisma, and charm. The enchanting production by Nathaniel Merrill, with designs by Robert O’Hearn, is the perfect setting for Nemorino’s quest to win the heart of beautiful Adina, sung by the sparkling Judith Blegen. Brent Ellis as Belcore and Sesto Bruscantini as Dr. Dulcamara round out the all-star cast. Nicola Rescigno conducts.

Giulio Cesare in Egitto

Triumphantly premiered in 1724 at the King's Theatre in London, George Frideric Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto masterfully combines human emotions: Triumph with sorrow, despair with happiness and love with profound melancholy in the face of the transience of all earthly life. Star director Keith Warner creates a production that imaginatively blends silent film and baroque opera, delightfully echoing Mankiewicz's legendary Cleopatra with Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton. An excellent cast of singers is led by two of the world's leading countertenors: Bejun Mehta and Christophe Dumaux. Louise Alder shines as the seductive Cleopatra. Patricia Bardon, Simon Bailey and Jake Arditti are further highlights in this extraordinary group of singers, while Ivor Bolton provides the appropriate soundtrack on the podium of the Concentus Musicus Wien.

Orlando

Olga Neuwirth, for a long time one of the great composers of the present, succeeds with this opera in creating a captivating arc across many musical genres. It’s an exciting, socially critical production by Polly Graham who puts a fantastically singing and playing Kate Lindsey in the center of the action.

Das Liebesverbot

This Wagner opera is rarely performed because of the scandals that engulfed the Magdeburg Theatre when it was performed in 1836 under the title The Novice of Palermo, and became known as a cursed opera from which the composer had to distance himself. Wagner's adaptation of the story reflects the rebellious mood of a Revolutionary Germany, vindicating sensual love and attack the fanatical repression of sexuality by a puritanical and hypocritical authority. As the prose says, "Shame to him whose cruel striking/Kills for faults of his own liking!". One of the most extraordinary musicals based on a text by Shakespeare, especially worthy of a new performance as it is four hundred years since the death of the Bard.

Moses und Aron

One of the greatest revolutions in the history of mankind happened around 3000 years ago: the transition from polytheism to monotheism through the prophet Moses. God revealed himself directly to Moses, instructing him in absolute truth. Moses was charged with leading the people of Israel to the Promised Land and escaping from Egyptian slavery. Moses came to embody the relationship between the human and divine truth. God’s call to Moses presented a new idea that exploded all previous religious concepts: ‘One God – unique, eternal, intangible, inconceivable’. Moses understands this concept, but is unable to express it, and therefore God appoints Moses’ brother Aaron as his spokesman. They are bound to fail: Aaron can only approach sharing the idea by compromising its meaning, whilst Moses is left to search fruitlessly for “the word I lack …” This production of Arnold Schoenbergs opera was filmed during the Ruhrtriennale 2009.

Lisa Limone and Maroc Orange: A Rapid Love Story

Main hero is a singing boat refugee – orange boy Maroc. He dreams about freedom. Lemon girl Lisa collects singing seashells and dreams about love. Lisa’s father is a businessman, owner of a ketchup factory and tomato plantation. He loves money. And so the opera begins: Poor Maroc escapes from his homeland and defying stormy waters take a boat across the sea to the “promised land”. Upon arrival he is forced into being a slave worker in a tomato plantation instead of freedom, democracy, wealth and parties he had hoped for. Despite the initial let down our orange boy is destined to gain happiness – selfish Lisa falls in love with him and sets him free. We see an orange revolution – houses are blown up and tomatoes are made from ketchup, all in the name of democracy! Movie that is full of rebellion and love has happy ending – we will see sour-sweet culmination of lemon girl’s and orange boy’s love.

Verdi: I Due Foscari

n his 'new life' as a baritone, Placido Domingo has triumphed in the role of Francesco Foscari in Los Angeles, London and Vienna. Now he takes to the role to La Scala, Milan, the theatre that is the symbol of Italian opera. I due Foscari, premiered in 1844, famously one of Verdi's darkest operas, is staged by Alvis Hermanis, who made such an impact at the Salzburg Festival with "Die Soldaten" and "Il trovatore". Domingo is joined by two of Italy's most exciting singers, the soprano Anna Pirozzi and the tenor Francesco Meli, and the acclaimed Italian conductor Michele Mariotti. The Financial Times was deeply moved by Domingo's performance, calling his interpretation of the role "sublime".

Natalka Poltavka

Based on the famous operetta, Natalka Poltavka was the first Ukrainian film directed in the USA. Natalka and Petro want to get married, but Natalka's father doesn't approve of the marriage — there are more affluent men in the village. Petro goes off to earn the required fortune.

Verdi: La Traviata

Alfredo, a young man from the provinces, falls in love with Violetta, the stylish toast of Paris. But she’s not the marrying kind – at least not until now. However, their dreams are threatened by both a merciless society that condemns Violetta’s racy past and an equally merciless disease. Russian soprano Venera Gimadieva portrays the iconic role of Violetta, alongside American tenor Michael Fabiano as Alfredo. The visual beauty of Tom Cairns’s opulent production aptly echoes the irresistible allure of this beloved opera.

Verdi: Don Carlo

Teatro Regio’s 2013 revival of their highly successful 2006 production of Verdi’s Don Carlo celebrates the 40th anniversary of the theatre’s reopening in 1973. With traditional staging and lavish costume design, the production garnered high acclaim in the national and international press, with GB Opera commending the ‘sumptuous’ setting and French online music magazine ResMusica praising director Hugo de Ana’s decision to revive the show ‘in all its splendour’. Shown here in the four-act version, Don Carlo is the fascinating tale of father-son power struggles, adultery and love that borders on incest. The cast – under the powerful baton of Gianandrea Noseda – is headed by renowned Mexican tenor Ramón Vargas, and also features Ludovic Tézier, who has been hailed as ‘one of the best Verdian singers of our time’

Richard Strauss - Ariadne Auf Naxos

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Farinelli

The life and career of Italian opera singer Farinelli, considered one of the greatest castrato singers of all time.

Up in Central Park

A newspaper reporter and the daughter of an immigrant maintenance man help expose political corruption in New York City.

Rodelinda

With this DVD and Blu-ray of Rodelinda, one of Handel’s most emotionally complex operas, conductor Emmanuelle Haïm adds to her impressive Erato catalogue of the composer’s works. The imaginative production, by Jean Bellorini, was seen at the Opéra de Lille in Autumn 2018, and the cast features soprano Jeanine De Bique in the title role, countertenor Tim Mead as her husband Bertarido and another countertenor, Erato’s rising star Jakub Józef Orliński as Unulfo. Reviewing the production, Le Monde noted Emmanuelle Haïm’s “intimate connection with this music, which she knows how to unleash in all its violence, passion and heart-wrenching expressivity.”

Gluck: Iphigenie en Aulide / Iphigenie en Tauride

Before the Trojan War, Agamemnon gathered the Greek armies at the port of Aulis. The goddess Diane sent unfavorable winds to prevent the Greeks from sailing. Her oracle set a condition for Agamemnon: to earn the right to sail forth and destroy an innocent country, he would have to sacrifice his own daughter. Agamemnon accepted these terms and killed his young daughter Iphigénie on the altar. In his play Iphigenia in Tauris Euripides imagines that Diane plucked Iphigénie from that altar and delivered her to a temple in distant Tauride, where Iphigénie began to serve the enemy Scythians as Diane’s high priestess—all the while Iphigénie’s family believing her dead.

The Desert Song

French General Birabeau has been sent to Morocco to root out and destroy the Riffs, a band of Arab rebels, who threaten the safety of the French outpost in the Moroccan desert. Their dashing, daredevil leader is the mysterious "Red Shadow". Margot Bonvalet, a lovely, sassy French girl, is soon to be married at the fort to Birabeau's right-hand man, Captain Fontaine. Birabeau's son Pierre, in reality the Red Shadow, loves Margot, but pretends to be a milksop to preserve his secret identity. Margot tells Pierre that she secretly yearns to be swept into the arms of some bold, dashing sheik, perhaps even the Red Shadow himself. Pierre, as the Red Shadow, kidnaps Margot and declares his love for her.

Puccini: Turandot

Franco Zeffirelli's magnificient staging of Puccini's final opera - a fairy tale set in a mythical China - is one of the most popular in the Met repertory. In this Live in HD production, Maria Guleghina takes on the title role and Marcello Giordani is Calaf, the unknown prince. Marina Poplavskaya and Samuel Ramey co-star, and Andris Nelsons conducts in his Met debut.

Carmen

A film version of the famous Bizet opera, where a soldier (Don Jose) falls in love with a beautiful factory worker (Carmen), but she does not reciprocate his feelings.

Abesalom and Eteri

Prince Abesalom runs into an orphaned Eteri while hunting, falls for her and brings the woman to his palace as his fiancé. The Prince’s aid Murman loses his self-control at Eteri’s beauty and gives her a spelled necklace as a wedding gift. Eteri contracts a mysterious disease that only Murman is capable to heal.

La bohème - ROH

A penniless poet, a young seamstress, and a lost key: Puccinis passionate opera tells the story of a captivating romance set against the background of 19th-century Paris. The luscious score, with its soaring melodies and rich orchestration, brings to life the relationships between Rodolfo, Mimì and their friends, the painter Marcello and fiery Musetta. Acclaimed director Richard Jones stages a fresh and intelligent new production of one of the worlds most popular operas, conducted by The Royal Operas Music Director, Antonio Pappano.

Lohengrin

This performance of the Richard Wagner opera Logengrin was filmed in high definition for the Bayreuth Festival in 2011, and features vocalists like Georg Zeppenfeld, Klaus Florian Vogt, and Anette Dasch in the leading roles.