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W.A. MOZART'S COSÌ FAN TUTTE
From the State Opera Berlin
Conducted by Daniel Barenboim
Staring: Dorothea Röschmann, Katharina Kammerloher, Hanno Müller-Brachmann, Werner Güra, Daniela Bruera, Roman Trekel
Language: Italian with English subtitles
February 16, 2012
Running Time: 179 minutes
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"The music says it all. Mozart is cool." So said the self-confessed "opera ignoramus" Doris Dörrie be-fore she grabbed hold of one of the sacred cows of the operatic repertoire and transformed it into a "hippie musical." Mozart's Così fan tutte ("Thus Do They All") was first staged in Vienna in 1790; it is a timeless opera, one that in fact became increasingly popular in the twentieth century as accusations of its triviality were replaced by greater recognition of its depths. Mozart's delight in juggling the comic and the serious is on full display here, and the opera's adaptability is proof of its strength. Under the motto "To cheat on your partner or not, that is the ques-tion," Dörrie stamped an originality on the work which impressed even the skeptical critics. |
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GEORGES BIZET'S CARMEN
From the State Opera Berlin
Conducted by Daniel Barenboim
Orchestra: Staatskapelle Berlin
Starring: Rolando Villazon, Marina Domashenko, Adriane Queiroz, Alexander Vinogradov
Language: German with English subtitles
March 15, 2012
Running Time: 200 minutes
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Bizet's Carmen is reputed to be the most famous opera in the world. Maestro Daniel Barenboim presents his musical view on this classic opera. Marina Domashenko's rich mezzo soprano voice makes her ideal for the title role in Carmen.
After the premiere the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zei-tung wrote about Rolando Villazon: "A perfect José, sung as he hasn't been sung in a long time... This young Mexican tenor alone makes it worth seeing."
The new Carmen by stage Director Martin Kušej is one of the current significant opera events.
"A dream Tenor" Der Tagesspiegel |
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GIUSEPPE VERDI'S AIDA
From the Roman Quarry of St. Margarethen
Conductor: Ernst Märzendorfer
Corps de Ballet & Orchestra of the National Theatre Brno
Language: Italian with English subtitles
June 14, 2012
Running Time: 140 minutes |
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This exciting open-air staging of Aida in beautiful High-Definition performed at St. Margarethen took place amidst the intoxicating scenery of a rustically romantic Roman quarry. The Opera Festival St. Mar-garethen in Austria counts as one of Europe's most important open-air festivals and over 220,000 op-era lovers from all over the world visit it annually. The story of the forbidden love between the Egyptian leader Radames and the beautiful Ethiopian princess Aida was originally commissioned for the opening of the Cairo opera house, which formed part of the celebrations surrounding the opening of the Suez Canal in 1871. This is an opera of epic proportions with horses, elephants, pyrotechnical special effects and more than 400 participants taking the stage. |
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RODION SHCHEDRIN'S DEAD SOULS
Recorded live from the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg
Valery Gergiev Musical Director and Conductor Vasily Barkhatov Stage Director
Language: Russian with English subtitles
July 12, 2012
Running Time: 190 minutes |
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St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre has staged the opera Dead Souls to the music by Rodion Shchedrin, who turns 80 in 2012. One of the indisputable operatic masterpieces of the 20th century will appear in the brand new, bright, expressive staged version, more than 30 years later, again at the Mariinsky Theatre.It is the first Russian production since iits 1977 premiere at the Bolshoi Theatre. |
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PROKOFIEV'S THE GAMBLER
Valery Gergiev Musical Director and Conductor
Starring: Sergei Aleksashkin, Tatiana Pavlovskaya, Vladimir Galuzin, Larisa Dyadkova
Nikolai Gassiev, Alexander Gergalov
Language: Russian with English subtitles
August 16, 2012
Running Time: 155 minutes
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Prokofiev flows in the veins of the Mariinsky Thea-tre's musicians, and has moreover done so for a long time; and the fact that, under Gergiev's baton, the orchestra and the opera company performed all of Sergei Prokofiev's symphonies, all of his concerti and all of his operas more than once is here of fundamental significance. All the senses and all the emotions are presented here by the orchestra in full on an immense yet refined palette of sounds, with a full understanding of both the text and subtext of the events, in the lively action and with Gergiev's inher-ent magic. |
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GIUSEPPE VERDI'S ATTILA
Recorded live from the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg
Conducted by Valery Gergiev
Starring: Ildar Abdrazakov Vladislav Sulimsky
Language: Italian with English subtitles
October 11, 2012
Running Time: 140 minutes |
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Based on Friedrich Werner's "Attila, King of the Huns" this powerful and atmospheric opera puts the spotlight on celebrated Russian bass Ildar Abdrazakov in the title role.
Set in the mid-5th century Attila focuses on the collapse of the Roman Empire and is a dramatic reflec-tion on freedom, courage and hope. |
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JULES MASSENET'S WERTHER
Recorded live from the Badisches State Theater Karlsruhe
Conducted by Daniel Carlberg
Starring: Silvia Hablowetz Keith Ikaia-Purdy Armin Kolarczyk
Language: French with English subtitles
November 29, 2012
Running Time: 140 minutes |
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Jules Massenet´s opera Werther belongs to the most favorite works of French repertoire. It is in the first wave of German Romantic literature that Massenet found the source for his doubtless most powerful work – and certainly his most popular! Might the French musician have detected in his own life the inspiration for these pages about the tormented fate of Werther and Charlotte, of their impossible love, their sighs, their unhappiness? Rarely has the author of Manon found a more poignant or fitting touch, leading the listener right inside the tempestuous soul of his characters. |
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GIACOMO PUCCINI'S MANON LESCAUT
Recorded live from the Chemnitz Opera House
Orchestra, Chorus: Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie
Conducted by Frank Beermann
Starring: Astrid Weber Heiko Trinsinger Zurab Zurabishvilli Kouta Räsänen
Language: Italian with English subtitles
December 6, 2012
Running Time: 120 minutes
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Manon Lescaut, Puccini's first major success, is a work of impassioned emotions based on the 18th-century novel by Abbé Prévost, depicting the doomed infatuation of Chevalier des Grieux for beautiful, funloving Manon. The popularity of Puc-cini's great masterpiece has never waned and the production at the Chemnitz Opera House was hailed as 'a magnificent event' and 'moments we go to the opera for'. |
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W.A. MOZART'S "THE GREAT MASS"
From the Leipzig Ballet
Choir of the Leipzig Opera Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Conducted by Balázs Kocsár
Starring: Kiyoko Kimura, Oksana Kulchytska, Sibylle Naundorf, Christoph Böh, Giovanni Di Palm, Eunyee You, Marie-Claude Chappuis, and Werner Güra
April 19, 2012
Running Time: 130 minutes
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Uwe Scholz, ballet director in Leipzig, was hailed as one of the most brilliant choreographic minds of his generation when he died in November 2004 at the early age of 45. His ballet "The Great Mass" is one of the most impressive works of this important neo-classical Choreographer - a requiem, a choreo-graphic revelation and certainly his grand legacy to the Leipzig Ballet. The full length Choreography takes its name from Mozart's famous unfinished Mass in C minor. Internationally famous soloists from the Leipzig Ballet, among them Kiyoko Kimura, Christoph Böhm and Oksana Kulchytska, take on the leading roles and the staging proves the ensem-ble to be one of the best ballet companies worldwide. |
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GEORGE BALANCHINE'S "JEWELS"
Recorded live from the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg
The Mariinsky Ballet & Orchestra
Starring: Ulyana Lopatkina, Igor Zelensky, Irina Golub, Andrian Fadeyev, and Zhanna Ayupova
May 24, 2012
Running Time: 92 minutes |
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The Mariinsky Ballet is one of the world's greatest ballet company with an astonishing heritage. Before emigrating to the West, George Balanchine studied in St Petersburg and was a member of the Mariinsky. However, "Jewels" dates from late in his career, and was premiered in New York. Although it did not receive its first performance at the Mariinsky until 1999, it has since become a core part of the company's repertoire . This performance was filmed at the Mariinsky Theatre and features many of the most well-known dancers including Ulyana Lopatkina, Igor Zelensky and Andrian Fadeyev alongside conductor Tugan Sokhiev. |
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LUDWIG MINKUS' "DON QUIXOTE"
Recorded live from the Amsterdam Music Theatre
The Dutch National Ballet
Conducted by Kevin Rhodes
Starring: Anna Tsygankova Matthew Golding Peter De Jong Karel de Rooij
September 20, 2012
Running Time: 122 minutes |
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Leading Russian choreographer Alexei Ratmansky has created this Dutch National Ballet production exclusively for the company. "Don Quixote" is a dazzling display of high spirits, virtuosity and Spanish temperament. The flamboyant leaps, dizzying pirouettes and crisp pointe work give the performers every opportunity to show off their technical prowess. But at the same time, the comic story based on Cervantes' masterpiece makes strong demands on the dancers' acting abilities. The leading Russian choreographer Alexei Ratmansky has drawn inspira-tion for his production from the libretto by Marius Petipa, created in 1869. The former artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet and Artist in Residence of the American Ballet Theatre now has also added his own new elements and choreography to the ballet. |
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MORETTI AND MONTEVERDI's "CARAVAGGIO"
Recorded live from the Staatsoper Unter den Linden
Staatsballett Berlin
Staatskapelle Berlin
Conducted by Paul Connelly
Starring: Beatrice Knop Polina Semionova Vladimir Malakhov
January 24, 2013
Running Time: 93 minutes
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Caravaggio, born Michelangelo Merisi, has entered history due to his paintings of dramatic intensity. Caravaggio used to venture the threshold beyond the pale throughout his life. He was seen for admiration of his work and harsh opposition towards his extraordinary realism in painting human beings. Due to his passionate personality, he encountered many conflicts with people around him. One of his fore-most artistic twists was the extreme contrast between brightness and darkness, light and shadow. Mauro Bigonzetti, is one of the leading choreographers of the Italian ballet, created his choreographies mainly for the Aterballetto in Reggio Emilia that helped him to fame and worldwide attention. |
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