Puccini Festival, Torre del Lago - Turandot (2016)

Cro: MTV Unplugged

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Marvel One-Shot: Item 47

Benny and Claire, a down-on-their-luck couple, find a discarded Chitauri weapon referred to as 'Item 47'.

Panda

Two teenagers are playing by night in a dirty parking lot. After they are driving on an empty road, they start to tease each other on the way to the sea, but they seem to be too young to drive and the road is a bit strange.

Marvel One-Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer

Agent Coulson stops at a convenience store and deals with a coincidental robbery during his visit.

Red

A married woman with a lovely daughter lives a carefree life, until she meets her ex-lover at a friend’s wedding. They haven’t seen each other in ten years, but they begin an affair.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2

After the birth of Renesmee, the Cullens gather other vampire clans in order to protect the child from a false allegation that puts the family in front of the Volturi.

Jack-Jack Attack

The Parrs' baby Jack-Jack is thought to be normal, not having any super-powers like his parents or siblings. But when an outsider is hired to watch him, Jack-Jack shows his true potential.

Mara'akame's Dream

Nieri is an indigenous teenage boy from the Wixarika culture, who is being indoctrinated by his father on the path of dreaming to reach the Blue Deer and become a Marakame. However, Nieri doubts about having the gift that is necessary to become a Marakame. His real dream is to play Mexican country music and to go to Mexico City to play there with his friends.

Shark

His first girlfriend was hit by a car. His second girlfriend fell off a cliff. His wife has come prepared.

The Gruffalo's Child

A follow up to the 2009 animated feature and adapted from the childrens' book by Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler. The Gruffalo's child explores the deep dark wood in search of the big bad mouse and meets the Snake, Owl and Fox in the process. She eventually finds the mouse, who manages to outwit her like the Gruffalo before!

Pokémon Heroes

Ash, Pikachu and the gang try and stop a pair of thieves hiding out in the canals and alleyways of Altomare, the age-old water capital. Joining the adventure are two new legendary Pokémon, a pair of siblings named Latias and Latios, who serve as peacekeepers and protectors of the Soul Dew — a priceless treasure with a mysterious power.

The Return

The Return is a 2016 documentary directed by Emmy Award winning director Erich Joiner chronicling Ford GT's return to 24 Hours of Le Mans after their 1966 1-2-3 victory.

Training Wheels

When Margo, Edith, and Agnes chase after an ice cream truck, little Agnes struggles to keep up and takes a tumble while pedaling her bike. Seeing her disappointment, the Minions spring into action to lift her spirits. Using their quirky ingenuity, they construct a unicorn-themed motorcycle to help Agnes ride in style. With her new wheels, Agnes embarks on a whimsical and heartwarming ride through town, showcasing the Minions’ unwavering dedication to bringing joy to the girls’ lives. This short captures the charm of teamwork, creativity, and pure delight.

The Gabby Douglas Story

The true story of Gabby Douglas who becomes the first African American to be named Individual All-Around Champion in artistic gymnastics at the Olympic Games.

Gabriel's Rapture: Part II

In the fifth installment of the Gabriel's Inferno series, Gabriel and Julia’s happiness is threatened by a conspiring student and academic politics. When Gabriel is confronted by the university administration, will he succumb to Dante's fate? Or will he fight to keep Julia, his Beatrice, forever?

Barbie and the Diamond Castle

Liana and Alexa are best friends who share everything, including their love of singing. Upon meeting a girl inside a mirror, the duo embark on a journey that will put their friendship to the ultimate test.

Scooby-Doo! Meets the Boo Brothers

After the death of Shaggy's Uncle Beaureguard, he, Scooby and Scrappy arrive at the late uncle's Southern plantation to collect the inheritance. But as soon as they arrive, they find it is haunted by the ghost of a Confederate soldier. With this spook on their tails while they solve riddles in search of the inheritance, they seek help from the Boo Brothers, a trio of ghost-exterminators to help catch this nasty ghoul.

Pokémon the Movie: Black - Victini and Reshiram

The Kingdom of the People of the Earth once ruled over the land, but now all that remains is the Sword of the Earth. in the city of Eindoak. Satoshi, Iris, and Dent arrive in Eindoak during a harvest festival's Pokémon Tournament and meet the legendary Pokémon Victini who wishes to share its powers of victory to someone. Elsewhere in the city, a descendant of the People of the Earth named Dred Grangil has arrived who seeks to revive the kingdom's power with the Sword of the Earth, bringing them back into power over the land, and Satoshi and his friends must stop him before he destroys the land along with Victini.

Spy Kids: All the Time in the World

Eight years after the third film, the OSS has become the world's top spy agency, while the Spy Kids department has since become defunct. Retired spy Marissa is called back into action, and to bond with her new stepchildren Rebecca and Cecil, she invites them along to stop the evil Timekeeper from taking over the world.

Harry Potter: A History Of Magic

A thrilling journey through legends, belief and folklore, this film goes behind the scenes with the British Library as they search to tell that story through objects in their collection, in an ambitious new exhibition: Harry Potter: A History Of Magic. J.K. Rowling, who is lending unseen manuscripts, drawings and drafts from her private archives (which will sit alongside treasures from the British Library, as well as original drafts and drawings from Jim Kay) talks about some of the personal items she has lent to the exhibition and gives new insight into her writing, looking at some of the objects from the exhibition that have fired her imagination.

The Return of Frank James

Farmer Frank and his ward hunt brother Jesse's killers, the back-shooting Fords.

Six Swedish Girls in Alps

This comedy has everyone's favorite 6 Swedish gals enjoying their stay in the alps. When the girls aren't enjoying the pleasure of their own company they're out having a good time with nearly everyone else in town.

Fast & Furious

When a crime brings them back to L.A., fugitive ex-con Dom Toretto reignites his feud with agent Brian O'Conner. But as they are forced to confront a shared enemy, Dom and Brian must give in to an uncertain new trust if they hope to outmaneuver him. And the two men will find the best way to get revenge: push the limits of what's possible behind the wheel.

La traversée

Community workers, Alex and Stéphanie take five teen dropouts on an educational journey across the Mediterranean. But their skipper happens to be an ex cop with a powerful hatred for youths from the hood.

Killers

When an elite assassin marries a beautiful computer whiz after a whirlwind romance, he gives up the gun and settles down with his new bride. That is, until he learns that someone from his past has put a contract out on his life.

50 Greatest Harry Potter Moments

To mark the release two weeks ago of the eighth and final movie in the series, Robbie Coltrane narrates a countdown of the movie franchise's best moments. From Harry's first meeting with Ron and Hermione aboard the Hogwarts Express through to magical mysteries.

Pithamagan

A young orphan grows up in a graveyard and is devoid of any human feelings; when he leaves the cemetery and meets people, he experiences emotions for the first time.

The Wild Soccer Bunch 5

"The Wild Soccer Bunch" celebrate their last victory against the "Silver Lights" - and set one record in volley-pass game after another in the forest. But they are not alone: Vampires target the team. To lure them into their bunker, they kidnap Leon. Will Vanessa ever see him again?

The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar

Set in the African savannah, the film follows Kion as he assembles the members of the 'Lion Guard'. Throughout the film, the diverse team of young animals will learn how to utilize each of their unique abilities to solve problems and accomplish tasks to maintain balance within the Circle of Life, while also introducing viewers to the vast array of animals that populate the prodigious African landscape.

Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior

When Aurangzeb recruits his trusted soldier Udaybhan to control the Kondhana fort, Shivaji's military leader Tanhaji Malusare and his army of Maratha warriors set out to recapture the fortress.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1

Bella Swan and Edward Cullen's honeymoon phase is abruptly disrupted by betrayals and unforeseen tragedies that endanger their world.

L’incomparable Mademoiselle C.

In this sequel to the popular adventures of Mademoiselle C, the strange Mademoiselle Charlotte began a new life as a postwoman in Saint-Gérard where she encounters a particularly dishonest businessman.

Iron Man: Rise of Technovore

Iron Man enlists the help of ruthless vigilante the Punisher to track down War Machine's murderer. All the while, he's being pursued by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Black Widow and Hawkeye, who suspect his involvement in a recent terrorist plot.

Susie Q

The ghost of a girl who died in 1955 appears to a troubled teen living in her old house.

Puccini: Gianni Schicchi

Opera in one act, libretto by G. Forzano based on Dante's Divine Comedy. Third part of his opera Triptych. The plot is based on canto XXX of "Inferno" from "The Divine Comedy", which are dedicated to the rogue and deceiver Gianni Schicchi, who was punished for his sins: he impersonated a dying rich man in order to make a forged will on his behalf. Gianni Schicchi is Puccini's only comic opera, a brilliant example of a modern opera buffa based on the tradition of Verdi's Falstaff. The most expressive recitative, bubbling melody, sharp character, impetuous tempo distinguish her music. Recorded live at Glyndebourne Opera House, Sussex, UK on 11 July 2004.

Phantom

Takarazuka Revue's Phantom based on the play by Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit.

Rudi Stephan: Die ersten Menschen

The 2021 production by the Dutch National Opera of the work by German composer Rudi Stephan (1887–1915) "Die ersten Menschen" ("The First Humans"), completed in 1914 to a libretto by Otto Borngräber interpreting the Biblical story of the Garden of Eden through symbolism and the then nascent science of psychoanalysis. This production was part of the Holland Festival of Amsterdam.

David Gilmour - Live at Pompeii

Decades after first performing there with Pink Floyd, singer-guitarist David Gilmour returned in July 2016 for two concerts in the ancient Italian amphitheatre as part of his Rattle That Lock tour.

Aida - Arena di Verona

The grand scale and magnificent acoustics of the Roman arena in Verona are ideally suited to the pageantry of Verdi's Egyptian opera, presented here in a staging that is true to the original 1913 production, framed by obelisks and sphinxes and filled with chorus and dancers. Chinese soprano Hui He has won international acclaim for her portrayal of the eponymous slave girl whose forbidden love for the war hero Radamés (Marco Berti, the experienced Verdi tenor) brings death to them both.

The Phantom of the Opera

The deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House causes murder and mayhem in an attempt to make the woman he loves a star.

Freydís and Gudrid

A group of merchants and vikings navigate dramatic events both within and without in this epic musical based on the Icelandic Vinland sagas. As secrets are exposed, two women (Freydís and Gudrid) have a reckoning.

Samson Et Dalila

Pious restraint comes face to face with sensuous hedonism in Camille Saint-Saëns’s grand-opera retelling of the Bible story of Samson and Delilah. Multi-Olivier Award winning director Richard Jones returns to The Royal Opera to stage this spectacular fin-de-siècle masterpiece, not performed at Covent Garden since 2004. Elina Garanca stars as the Philistine Dalila, SeokJong Baek as the inspiring Jewish hero Samson and Antonio Pappano conducts the full forces of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. With superb singing in solos and duets of great intimacy and fervour, gorgeous music with thrilling orchestral interludes, and splendid choral numbers for the Royal Opera Chorus – this is a performance to remember.

Orphée aux enfers

Marc Minkowski conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Opera National de Lyon in this 1997 production of Offenbach's opera starring Natalie Dessay, Yann Beuron, Jean-Paul Fouchecourt and Laurent Naouri.

Monteverdi - L'Incoronazione Di Poppea

This is a finely tuned opera with music by the Italian composer, Claudio Monteverdi, libretto by G. E. Busenello, and the fine voices of contralto Maria Ewing, baritone Dennis Bailey, and several other sub-leads is not to be missed and will be fully enjoyed. No lead tenor here and none needed. No soprano here as a lead and none needed. One of the joys of my watching and listening outside the opera hall. The story line is strong and the tale well carried out.

La Traviata

This superb 2006 production of the Los Angeles Opera's La Traviata stars Renée Fleming, who joins the ranks of the elite handful of sopranos whose vocal and acting talents make their portrayals memorable. Her Violetta Valéry is a vulnerable figure torn between self-indulgence and love, sacrificing personal happiness to become a victim of the social mores of mid-19th-century bourgeois France. Fleming's acting captures the complexity of the character and her vocalism is flawless. She negotiates the wild coloratura of Act One with aplomb, and is stunning in the lyric passages that pervade the opera, and touching in her scenes with her lover, Alfredo, and his father. Her singing is free of the mannerisms that have sometimes crept into her work and at the same time she brings countless personal touches to the role, phrasing and verbal emphases that shed fresh light on the character.

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.”

Royal Opera House: Madama Butterfly

Cio-Cio-San, the young Japanese bride of dashing American officer Lieutenant Pinkerton, finds her romantic idyll shattered when he deserts her shortly after their marriage. She lives in hope that one day he will return. Three years later, Cio-Cio-San and her little son see Pinkerton’s ship in the harbour. She excitedly expects his visit – but Pinkerton and his American wife Kate have come only to take the boy away, to raise him in America. Cio-Cio-San bids her son farewell and then takes her own life.

Carmen in 3D

Passion, jealousy and betrayal take center stage at Londons Royal Opera House in a spectacular production of the worlds most popular opera. Bizets Carmen is packed with some of the best-loved and memorable music in all of opera. In this characteristically vivid and vibrant stage production by Francesca Zambello, beautifully filmed in 3D by Julian Napier, Seville is brought to life with ranks of soldiers, crowds of peasants, gypsies and bullfighters as well as a magnificent horse, a donkey and even some chickens! This spectacular RealD and Royal Opera House production features a supremely talented cast, gripping drama and Bizets energetic and passionate score. It is truly a musical event to remember!

Viva Vivaldi

Viva Vivaldi! is a concert by the Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli interspersing arias from the 20 surviving operas of Vivaldi with two concertos. Given with the early music ensemble Il Giardino Armonico before a very appreciative audience in the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the performance is part of Bartoli's exploration of the Venetian composer's opera music which also includes The Vivaldi Album. There is a startling dynamic energy, which contrasts powerfully with the more restrained interpretations by singers such as Emma Kirkby. Bartoli's natural Italian and the live atmosphere of Maria Grazia d'Alessio's oboe gives her interpretation of the quietly haunting and melodically rich "Non ti Lusinghi la Crudeltade" from Tito Manlio a particular piquancy. The Flautino Concerto is a most attractive interlude, while the more famous Lute/Violin Concerto beguiles with its exquisite lyricism.

Alceste

John Eliot Gardiner conducts Gluck’s 1776 French version of “Alceste” at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. Soprano Anne Sofie von Otter takes the title role of Alceste, Queen of Thessaly, who offers to die at the hands of the gods in place of her husband, Admète (Paul Groves), so that the people will not lose their king. Alceste is then saved from the underworld by Hercule (Dietrich Henschel).

Farinelli

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

Tosca

Tosca is a melodrama of love, betrayal and death set in the revolutionary unrest of 1800. The story concerns the opera singer Floria Tosca who tries to save her lover, the painter Mario Cavaradossi, from the brutal chief of police, Scarpia. Through-composed and expertly orchestrated it contains some of Puccini’s best-known lyrical arias and remains one of his most performed operas. In this 2022 production, an eminent cast is directed by the acclaimed Australian director Barrie Kosky – ‘the Amsterdam audience was completely swept off its feet by Kosky’s stunning production’ (Opera News).

Korngold: Die tote Stadt

Erich Wolfgang Korngold's "Die tote Stadt" in a Bayerische Staatsoper production from 2019, directed by Simon Stone. Kirill Petrenko is conducting Jonas Kaufmann and Marlis Petersen.

John Adams: Nixon in China

Besides the landing on the moon by the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, Richard Nixon’s meeting with China’s leader Mao Zedong in February 1972 then represented one of the biggest media spectacles in history. Nixon himself established the reference between the two events: “We came in peace for all mankind” not only marked the lunar module Eagle’s landing spot – Nixon also spoke of it into the microphones just before his departure to China. It was not John Adam’s aim to create a superficial or even a caricaturing representation of Nixon’s visit when composing his opera. He attempted to create a “heroic opera” about the construction of modern myths by using archetypical characters and situations. Director Marco Štorman stages Adams’ minimal music opera as a deconstruction review about the power of images, the politics of staging and the staging of politics.

The Metropolitan Opera: Semiramide

Against the backdrop of the Hanging Gardens, Semiramide, Queen of Babylon, defies bad omens and supernatural threats in her quest to find a worthy successor to her late husband. But she harbours more than one dark secret, and whoever gains the throne may find that he has lost more than he has won. Based on a story by Voltaire, this rarely performed tragic opera reveals 'The Barber of Seville' composer Giaochino Rossini in a whole new light. The title role—composed for Rossini’s wife, Isabella Colbran—features some of the most demanding vocal music he ever wrote. Angela Meade takes on the challenging vocal fireworks in this revival of a production last seen at the Met 25 years ago.

Richard Wagner - Lohengrin

A dream came true at Dresden's Semperoper in May 2016 when opera superstars Piotr Beczala and Anna Netrebko made their Wagner debuts as Lohengrin and Elsa, inspired to take on their new roles by Christian Thielmann, the Dresden Staatskapelle's principal conductor and one of the leading Wagner conductors of our day. Die Welt described the performance captured here as "musically one of the finest Lohengrins of all time". Contributing to the triumph are Evelyn Herlitzius's Ortrud. Tomasz Konieczny's Telramund, Georg Zeppenfeld's King Henry and the Dresden State Opera Chorus.

Déjà vu

Famous opera singer Dmitry Hvorostovsky performs live songs from his album 'Deja vu' by composer Igor Krutoy about life, love, music, fate and even death at the Kremlin Palace.

Rigoletto

A Victor Hugo play, haunting and scandalous, provided the inspiration for Verdi’s mid-career masterpiece. A vengeful but misguided court jester strives to save his daughter from a duke’s licentious clutches, but can't part with the feeling that a curse looms over all of his actions. In Rigoletto, the composer introduces several of his most iconic arias and duets—as well as an 11th-hour quartet that counts among the finest moments in opera.

The Metropolitan Opera - Verdi: Macbeth

Star soprano Anna Netrebko created a sensation with her riveting performance as the malevolent Lady Macbeth, the central character in Verdi's retelling of Shakespeare's tragedy. She is joined by Željko Lučić, who brings dramatic intensity and vocal authority to the title role of the honest general driven to murder and deceit by his ambitious wife. The great René Pape is Banquo and Joseph Calleja gives a moving performance as Macduff. Adrian Noble's powerful production provides an ideal setting for this dark drama, which is masterfully presided over by Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi.

Rossini: Guillaume Tell

The hero of this admirably complete August 2013 Guillaume Tell from Pesaro is homegrown maestro Michele Mariotti. The inimitable overture is (mercifully) unstaged and terrifically played, with splendid cello and flute solos: the fine standard never flags. Rossini’s extraordinary 1829 score audibly presages Meyerbeer, Berlioz, Glinka, Verdi and Wagner, among many others. Graham Vick’s direction privileges class conflict, with a clenched fist on the red-and-white forecurtain. The Edwardian costumes place Austrians in white evening garb; the black-clad Swiss polish the floor while the rulers savor a filming (much of that to follow) — the fisherman Ruodi, in a boat with a blonde and fake scenery, with Tell and his family providing tech support. Vick deploys geographical and historical kitsch liberally but not (always) pointlessly. Ron Howell’s pretentious, mannered choreography, however, beggars belief.

Evensong

Loosely based on the story of the singer Nellie Melba...

The Bartered Bride

Frantisek Filip film version of the Smetana opera.

Rigoletto

This tragic story revolves around the licentious Duke of Mantua, his hunch-backed court jester Rigoletto, and Rigoletto's beautiful daughter Gilda. The opera's original title, La maledizione (The Curse), refers to the curse placed on both the Duke and Rigoletto by a courtier whose daughter had been seduced by the Duke with Rigoletto's encouragement. The curse comes to fruition when Gilda likewise falls in love with the Duke and eventually sacrifices her life to save him from the assassins hired by her father.

Die Tote Stadt

"Die tote Stadt" is a psychologically layered drama with Hitchcock-like features, about Paul who, after the loss of his beloved Marie, slowly but surely becomes entangled in a dream world of obsessions and delusions. This impressive opera is a passionate as well as a surrealistic plea for mourning. "He who cannot live with death has no life."

Kaufmann's Otello at the Royal Opera House

On a June night in 2017, opera lovers thronged to the Royal Opera House in London to hear tenor Jonas Kaufmann, recently acclaimed by The Daily Telegraph as the world s greatest tenor, make his eagerly anticipated debut in the title role of Otello Verdi s greatest and most demanding role for tenor voice. As the New York Times wrote Mr. Kaufmann made his debut in the part, and he calmly, confidently sang it for the ages.

Wagner: Die Walküre

Richard Wagner called Die Walküre the “first evening” of the Ring of the Nibelung; he called Das Rheingold the prologue or Vorabend. Musically and dramatically, we are introduced to a radically new and different world when the opening bars of Die Walküre resound. A fully developed orchestral palette of Leitmotivs paints a wild storm scene, and the curtain rises on a modest dwelling: a fully human scene that has nothing to do with the gods, dwarves and nymphs of Das Rheingold. At the same time, however, the way Die Walküre portrays radical beginnings reveals some telling reminiscences of the unfolding of Das Rheingold. Die Walküre is exciting and deeply feeling drama.

Funding

Vivian, Roe, JJ, Ines and a mysterious French man through a 20 year musical memory of New York City. As people and places in their lives drift away, visual impressions meld with sound and narrative stories to reveal a complex yet moving tableau. As the characters recall their own personal histories, conflicting images reveal their past, present and future.

Il Trovatore

As Aragon descends into unrest, a count jealously fights for a noble lady's heart. But she has already given it to a passionate troubadour whose mother holds a terrible secret.

Puccini: La bohème

"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.